born_of_air (born_of_air) wrote in cotic, @ 2016-06-27 15:41:00 |
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Entry tags: | clementine, ryker |
Lights Out!
Who: Clementine and Ryker
Where: On a park bench in Lark
The lights had gone out while Clementine was outside of her pod, sitting on a bench in the common area of Lark. She’d taken a perch outside of her house with her glass pipe, her lighter, and a sampling of Darla to settle in for the storm. She could hear it rage overhead just enough and she loved every second of it. Storms always made her feel more connected to the earth, to everything it needed, and to how easily the populace could work with it, or screw it up, if they tried.
When the lights went out, Clementine ended up grinning. Sighing she reached for her pre-packed bowl and flicked on her lighter, one tiny flame in the complete darkness, inhaled the smoke and exhaled with a sigh.
The lights going out wasn’t really a new thing. Ryker had been halfway through mixing some new songs for the club when his board cut out, and he realized he was sitting in the dark long before he should have been. Tugging his headphones down, he sighed, then got up to see if he could find the circuit breaker box. He’d lived in some real shitholes after leaving his mom’s place, one that tripped a switch every time the girl down the hall used her hair dryer, so he was almost used to it. He just had the find the breaker, flip it back, and maybe unplug a few things before he plugged his board back in. No biggie.
Wandering out into his pod proper though, he realized it wasn’t just his pod that had gone dark. He could see it all around the others, hell, even the courtyard looked dim. He let himself out of his pod, still looking around for that breaker, or something that could reset the lights so he could go back to work.
“Hey,” he called towards the flash of light and smoke, walking that way and waving even though it was probably too dark for them to see him. “Any idea on how we turn this back on? I’m in the middle of something.”
“You can’t,” She said in the direction of the voice, instinctively trying to peer at whoever it was through the darkness. She took her lighter and flicked it on again, though, holding it away from her face so she could hopefully see a little better. “At least, I don’t think you can. I’ve been here a while and this hasn’t ever happened before. I’ve never had to look for breakers or anything. They’ll probably come back on when the storm is over. You’re welcome to come sit and smoke with me until it’s over, though,” She called back to the stranger, thinking company might keep her mind occupied.
“Wait, you’re saying you don’t know how to turn it on or even how it turned off?” Ryker thought that was more than unnerving. “I mean, getting high is fun and all, but there’s gotta be something we can do.” He squinted at her in the dark, then looked around them. If I was a generator box, where would I be?
“I’m saying both,” She said, the light on her lighter flickering out when she let go it it and shook her hand, the heat warming her thumbnail a bit too much. “Well, if I knew where things were, I’d totally tell you. But I don’t and I’ve been here a while. And plus, we can’t really see anything anyway in order to do something. My lighter works but it doesn’t do much good for long-range or long-term lighting, you know? But there’s plenty of heat left to share this pipe with a new friend.”
Ryker dropped onto the bench with her but didn’t take her up on the offer just yet. Life in the slums of Brooklyn had him more on edge than normally, but he was also mostly just a recreational user. Getting high for a party or a concert was more his style than just an early afternoon buzz. “This hasn’t happened before?” he asked.
Shaking her head, Clementine realized only a moment later that he couldn’t see her. “Not since I’ve been here. And I’ve been here for a while now.” With a good grip on her pipe, she flicked on the lighter again, took a hit, and exhaled the smoke into the air around them. “I’m Clementine. What’s your name?”
He couldn’t see the smoke billow around her, but he could smell it before he looked over. “Ryker,” he said, but he wasn’t interested in introductions. “So this hasn’t happened before and we’re not freaking out about it?”
“Why freak out? There’s nothing much we can do about it,” She said, turning in the direction of Ryker’s voice. “The lights will come back on at some point. We don’t have anything we can use to really fix the problem. And it’s not just my pod or your pod, it’s our whole little nest. Maybe all the nests. They’ll fix it. In the meantime, I get to learn about you. What brought you to New Eden, Ryker?”
“Yeah okay, but...like what if they don’t? What if we’re stuck down here?” Ryker wasn’t really claustrophobic, but that thought could make him be. “I came for a job,” he said, still on edge even though he was answering her question.
“They will, have faith,” She said, reaching out in the dark until she found his arm and squeezed it lightly. “They like us being here. They wouldn’t leave us to live the rest of our lives out down here in the dark. The storm will pass and everything will go back to normal.” She said, smiling at him even though he couldn’t see it “Are you sure you don’t want a hit? What kind of job were you here for?”
“What do you mean they? Who are they?” Ryker asked because that felt weird. Really, really weird. “I’m going to DJ a club, Exodus.”
Clementine shrugged, flicking on her lighter again but not taking another hit, just letting the flame settle between the two of them so she could get a look at the outline of his features. Pretty features, even in the dark. “MABEL. She, they, whatever….MABEL makes sure we have what we need. I realize how this sounds, you know? I know you’re hearing this and thinking that it’s the strangest thing you’ve ever heard. But it’s true.” Smiling, Clementine perked up a little more. “A DJ? Awesome! We don’t have enough musicians here. How long have you been DJing?”
“I’m trying to figure out if you sound like that because you’re high or you’re serious.” Ryker really couldn’t tell which it was. Her question, it was just too normal, but he shook his head and tried to follow along. “Um since high school I guess. Since I realized I could.”
“Well, mostly I’m always some level of high, and I’m usually some level of serious. So, probably a little both,” Clementine offered. Then she smiled, diving headfirst into learning more about him and his DJing skills. “So you’ve definitely done this before, then. DJ, professionally. Would I know any of your songs?”
Well, that was weird. He didn’t say anything about it though. What point would that serve. “No,” he said, shaking his head. “I don’t really do my own stuff. Just, mix other people’s stuff. I mean I have some beats I’ve put together, but it’s not really for like, producing my own thing. I’m just a club DJ.”
“You’re not just anything. You were brought here for a reason,” Clementine said, leaning back against the bench and let her eyes shut. She was tired to straining to try and see him in the dark, and his voice was nice enough that she was happy to just listen to him speak. “No one is ever just anything. We all have so many layers, so many different sides. We’re all too complicated to be just something.”
“Yeah, now I’m sure you’re really stoned.” Ryker didn’t mind but that was how stoners talked, like everything mattered more than just for the moment. He didn’t have a purpose. He just was. While she leaned back, he leaned forward, eyes looking up like he might be able to see something. “I really hope the power comes back on soon. People are going to freak out if it doesn’t.”
“The power will be back,” She assured Reaching out to him in the dark, Clementine took his arm and gave it a little squeeze. “Just have a little faith, DJ. We’re here for a reason, and having power is part of it. Just, not currently. The storm will blow over and everything will be fine.”