Who: Isaac and Sepphy Where: Outside then an abandoned pizza joint What: Meeting in person then finding a pinball machine When: September 2, early afternoon
Isaac Callahan ~carrotandstick
Persephone Forrester ~flowersforhades
Continued with comments
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The day had finally come and he was going to meet Persephone in person. They'd talked a ton on the freenet and he'd watched her interview but Isaac thought there was something different about interacting with a person face-to-face. It was probably the lawyer in him, since interviewing clients and reading their body language and tone of voice told him just as much (if not more) than words alone.
This could either be ready bad or really good and he wasn't entire sure which it would be yet. He was nervous about meeting a person who knew more about him from freenet conversations than people he talked to at the Capitol for the past two years, but there was no going back now. He couldn't lure her out of the safety of Fox Grove only to stand her up. That would be a serious dick move. And if what she said about not being equipped for this zombie wasteland were true, it would be dangerous for her as well.
So after plowing through his work that morning as fast as he could he packed up his desk for the day and heading back to his place for his excursion supplies.
Backpack? Check. Gun? Check. Blue hat so Sepphy would recognize him? Check. Playing hookey and skipping out on work early? Check and check.
He'd told her to meet him at an intersection a couple blocks from Fox Grove and that he'd be the guy in the blue hat (because the street would be so crowded). The walk didn't take too long and once he made it he did a quick scan of the area for Sepphy (and the walking dead, as one always should). With no one in sight just yet, he leaned on the street sign pole, waiting for her arrival.
Sepphy was nervous. She wasn't overly happy with the reasons why she was nervous, but she also couldn't quite get herself away from the feeling, so she was dealing with it her way. She got herself all ready to go. That included her old school book bag, which was an old army surpluss looking thing covered in sewed on patches – some adorable, some geeky, some punk – and a weapon. Sure, she sucked at that kind of thing but she wasn't going to be dumb. So, her trusty nine iron it was, even if it was worse for wear, most definitely.
She glanced at herself in the mirror, long hair tumbling down in waves over her shoulders. She told herself for the billionth time that this wasn't a date, because that was fucking insane. She just had a little crush, and just because they talked about running off together or something didn't mean that it would happen, and anyway, it was just joking around.
She was transferring, or whatever the term was. He was nice to her, and listened, and had become a confidante for shit she didn't tell other people, and he paid attention to her, and so her dumb little heart was taking all of that, wrapping it all up together into a smooshy ball and making her stupid.
She was objectively aware of all of this, and yet she still glanced at herself in the mirror before she left, to be sure she didn't look hideous or anything. She also made sure she told Danny where she was headed, because she'd promised she wouldn't slip out on him again without warning. He hadn't looked overjoyed.
But off she went anyway, shoving her dumb little crush back as far as it could go as she walked. The other side of things was she genuinely wanted to meet the guy. He was smart, and awesome, and she felt like they'd made a real connection and could call each other real friends, even if they hadn't met yet. So, aside from her hormones making her an idiot, she was happy with the chance to talk to him in person.
Plus, she was kinda worried about him. He had a hell of a lot on his plate, and she didn't know that he was actually dealing with it. Just pushing it back and apparently exploding at people. Not her, but still. She wanted to see if she could help, in any small measure. Even if it was just wandering out for a little while on an afternoon to do something random.
As she rounded the corner, she spotted a guy up ahead, and she smiled, bouncing on the balls of her feet. She was a colorful girl, in a bright red peacoat, black leggings and a sky blue dress beneath it with little flowers all over it. What she didn't look like was a girl who'd survived a zombie apocalypse.
She waved happily, not even chancing calling to him, and she headed in his direction faster, to cut the distance down. When she got closer, she saw that unfortunately, he was kinda insanely handsome in the face. That wasn't going to be super helpful for her crush. But it didn't dim her smile at all, and instead she just walked up, grinning at him. Then she abruptly gave him a quick hug, because that was just who she was as a person.
"Did you like your bat signal?"
In the good ‘ol days (read: before the zombies) one could wait for someone and scroll through your phone and not have to worry about a monster literally wanting to eat you alive, but as things were now, Isaac didn’t risk it. Even if sometimes he worried that he went out into the wilds so much because he was hoping a zombie would eat him and allow him to just be done, he had more focus these days. Probably because of the person he was meeting. How someone could be so optimistic and mature at only 18 years old, Isaac had no idea, but Sepphy definitely seemed to have her shit together… even better than he did himself.
He didn’t have to wait long before he spotted the girl in brightly colored outfit making her way towards him. Of course she’d be dressed like that. She was sunshine personified.
The hug took him by surprise and he’d barely gotten his arm up to hug her back before she was pulling away. Looking at her a little dumbly, because he couldn’t even remember the last time he hugged someone, he just nodded. "Yeah, it was awesome. Did you draw it yourself? Wait. We’re doing this wrong. I should probably be saying stuff like ‘nice to meet you’ first, right?"
Sepphy took in the look on his features and she gave a little good natured laugh. "Hi," she said, wiggling her fingers in a little wave. She was all smiles, truly looking happy and she was. And weirdly, her nerves seemed to have already evaporated. Probably due to that little shock on his features. It was hard to be nervous when you could knock someone off stride with a hug.
"I did. Not that I'm claiming to be an artist? You should see some of the stuff up on the walls at Fox Grove - that is art – but I did my best," she told him with a firm nod. "And oh yeah! Social contract. Right." She cleared her throat, stood up straighter, and did her best to look at him seriously.
It was almost perfect, save for the amusement in her big green eyes. "Hello there, Isaac, it is lovely to finally meet you," she told him, holding out her hand so they could shake on that note.
The perplexed look quickly shifted into an amused one as he took in the sight of her. Bright clothes, bright smile… It seemed so unnatural out here in the waste of Austin but so her. It was a good change of pace. He’d been stuck in a rut for the past two years and now everything was turned upside down because of Demi. Maybe having Sepphy in his life was something to balance everything out.
He laughed as well, extending his own hand out until he could grab hers, shaking it firmly. "It’s good to finally meet you, too, even if you’re not an artist," he said, not even bothering to put on a serious front. He did that all day around the Capitol and for the first time in a long time, he didn’t feel like he had to put on that face around someone. So hell if he was going to right now.
"Okay, you ready to go find this pizza place? We need to get going if we’re going to be back by dark."
Her attempt at being serious crumbled and gave way to that bright smile of hers again, and there was a bouncy energy to her, which was mostly apparent in her step, and the fact that it seemed like she couldn't quite keep still. So, she was a little giddy. She was happy to see someone who wasn't shoving firearms in her face! It was a big win.
"I'm so ready!" she said, and started in the direction of the place, even if the streets looked just crazy weird. She'd even say eerie if she was in a less positive mood, but that internal sunshine of hers was officially on. "So have you turned it on, so people who wander by can see it? Because you should. Adding random into people's day can be a good thing sometimes. And I'm pretty sure that people no longer have enough desk toys, unless they were left there by the previous tenants, and somehow I think that in that building, there wasn't a whole lot of lighthearted office playing happening."
It was a little unthinkable that someone could be so happy these days, even without going through the bad shit that he’d been through. Sepphy just defied the odds, or something like that.
They began walking down the road, Isaac steering them to the middle of the pavement for extra caution. There were some cars to maneuver around, but hopefully with a mostly clear path they wouldn’t be caught off guard by any shufflers. The last thing they needed was a run-in with the walking dead.
"I tested it out when I first got it but I haven’t fired up the bat signal since then. It’s a little too big to sit on my desk at the DoJ so it’s in my apartment right now. I should use it instead of my lamp," he said, grinning now. "Bet my roomie will think I’ve lost my mind."
She followed without asking questions, trusting that he knew what he was doing. Her experience with the outbreak didn't include having to travel, everything had taken place in house. So while she knew the fundamentals of what it took to traverse the wasteland, that didn't mean she was automatically accustomed to following through with those safety protocols.
She tried to keep her steps light, which wasn't hard, though she wasn't as good at keeping her eyes on their surroundings as she could have been. She kept glancing in his direction as they spoke, still just all kinds of pleased that they were meeting up at all, and that they were going to go seek out a pinball machine. Just because.
She laughed, picturing it on a desk. "I guess it would take up a lot of room. Damn that thing was heavy. I had to go digging through old storage rooms. I was kinda shocked it still worked, but I'm happy it does! And it would be the best lamp!" She laughed at the mention of his room mate. "Well, you'll just have to sit her down, and have The Talk," she said, smirking.
"Dear girl," she intoned. "I know this is going to be hard to hear, but...I'm Batman." She beamed. "No way she can think you're crazy after that, right? Perfectly reasonable thing."
Lucky for Sepphy, Isaac had enough practice at this whole wandering around thing but if they were going to do this again then he would need to make sure her skills were up to par. It would be to both their benefit, after all.
"Did you box it up yourself?" He asked, glancing over at her, taking in her appearance again. She was pretty small, at least compared to him, so he wasn’t entirely sure how she would have managed that task. Odds were her bodyguard did it. It was still weird to think that she had a bodyguard but times were stranger than ever so he usually just tried to roll with it.
He snorted a laugh at her words and shrugged. "We’re actually getting along a little better these days so she might even find it funny. I’ll report back once I’ve had a chance to have The Talk with her," he said.
"I did. And almost dropped the stupid thing on my foot? Which would have been really stupid. Which then had me thinking about broken foot bones, and how we don't have a doctor, even if some of the students have taken up as much hard core study as they can possibly get? But it's all theory, no practice. Setting foot bones would be probably not our forte, to say the least," she explained. "But hey! If it had happened, then I could wind up this doddering little thing with a crooked back and a cane that's too small? And I'd start practicing my cackle."
She hunched over to mock up the walk for a second but laughed and bounced ahead a few paces as she stood back upright. "I'd have to get used to poisoning apples or something," she said. "But it didn't happen so my future as a wicked fill-in-the-blank isn't quite set in stone yet," she added.
"I'm glad to hear you're getting better! Did you do the gift thing?" she asked, smiling at him, and absolutely kicking back a tiny itty bitty little pinch of jealousy that wanted to rise to the surface. She was good at smothering it though so there was no indication in her features.
Isaac’s eyebrows raised at Sepphy and continued to climb as her story went on and on. It was very detailed and imaginative, which he could appreciate. This whole interaction was still a bit of a shock to him and so out of his normal routine, but he could get used to this. It was fun. He’d already laughed. Weren’t those things she’d told him to work on? Apparently he just needed to spend time around her and the problem was solved.
"But why do witches always have to be wicked? What about Glinda from Wizard of Oz? She was a witch, but she was good and didn’t have any of those nose warts or canes or evil cackles or anything. I’m just saying, you’re not wicked at all and I highly doubt that breaking your foot would turn you into a witch," he said giving her a sheepish shrug of the shoulders before adding, "Uh, yeah, the gift thing worked. Thanks."
Wow, that was like the most he’d said out loud to another person in a long time. And they still had more to talk about. Baffling.
"Oh oh oh, do not get me started on that bitch Glinda!" Sepphy said. "Seriously? She handed over shoes to a child - Dorothy was only a kid even if she was played by Judy Garland – tells her this fairytale about them being magic, has her go through all this peril where she could have died, has her face off against Glinda's enemy, and only then, after everything is all wrapped up with a neat goddamn bow, does she toss off the 'oh yeah, the power was in you the whole time. Peace out, bitches!'," the blonde shook her head. "That witch was a bitch of the highest order, Isaac. Gotta look at the facts," she told him seriously, but there was still that barely held in check smile on her lips.
"But thanks for the vote of confidence, anyway! I could just promise to be a good witch, should I ever go that route. Wicked witches just seem to have cooler shit in their lairs. Plus they have lairs." Sepphy paused as they came across a huge, empty intersection, eyes clocking all the buildings around them. It was almost oppressive feeling, almost too big but cramped at the same time. Without thinking about it, she eeked just a little closer to Isaac.
"And yay! You're welcome," she said. "Any time. I'm good at things like that. I call it my people-guage. No. I don't call it that. I should have come up with some sort of cool sounding mechanism. Intuition just sounds so new agey."
Brows scrunched together and mouth gaping open slightly, Isaac just looked ahead as he tried to take in Sepphy’s words. He’d never thought of it like that before. Then again, it’d been a long time since he saw that movie. In his boyish amazement at getting to watch movies at the baby sitter’s house and drink strawberry milk, he forgot to analyze the true intentions of the witch in pink.
"Well when you put it that way we should definitely burn her at the stake. But, to play Devil’s advocate, what if Dorothy and the gang needed to go through all those trials in order to put them in the right mindframe where they could find the magic in themselves or whatever you said. Because, you know, you can’t just tell the Cowardly Lion that he’s really brave. He needs to be in a situation where he has to find that and choose to be brave and conquer his fears."
Even though they were talking about a kid’s movie (which, let’s be real, was pretty fucked up for children to be watching), it sort of felt like he was lawyer-ing again, and not in the bullshit DoJ way. It felt good.
Isaac didn’t really realize that Sepphy moved closer, but given where they were, he didn’t mind. "You ever see that really bad movie about Hansel and Gretel being witch hunters? It was so bad it was good, but again, one of those movies that perpetuated the gnarled evil witch look."
The intersection they were going through was definitely creepy but with no movement he could detect, they could only keep moving forward.
"What about your ability to give good advice? I mean, how could you people-gague a person you’ve never even met? Unless you were people-gaguing through me? I guess that could work. Right?"
"I'm all for lions finding their bravery, and scarecrows figuring out they've got smarts, and tin men...well, y'know. Hearts. That part always struck me as pretty morbid, really. Awesomely morbid, but still morbid, but anywho. I'm cool with those things. It's her manipulating a kid and all that that makes me go 'biiiitch'..." she concluded. "Especially with the murder involved, and really, what was the endgame? Was she trying to out the Wizard who was a total fraud? I'm suspicious of Glinda's whole agenda. And if you have ever seen 'Return to Oz'...that shit was just creepy. I mean, objectively awesome, but creepy. The witch who stole heads sorta haunted me for a while..."
She shuddered. "Seriously I kept dreaming about those headless statues, all like dancing and holding hands? Only I was trapped in the circle of them and these birds kept flying by with razor blades..." She made a cute wrinkled nose face. "I have vivid dreams."
As they walked, she kept glancing at him, more comfortable the longer they strolled, even if she should be keeping her attention on their surroundings, especially since they were talking which was noise. "I hadn't seen that one! I wanted to though, but never did get around to it. Now I wanna find it somewhere..." She laughed. "And ah, yeah. Well, Disney set the bar – ugly equals evil, and vice versa."
"Student of human nature. The cults. Just generally observing people in all kinds of different environments, you sorta pick up on what the more universal stuff is," she explained, taking the question seriously. "And yeah, some is through people I'm talking to, but like with the gift thing? Look around," she said, and she walked a few paces ahead, spinning in a circle as she walked, turning to walk backwards to keep him in view. "No one's gotten a present since the world ended. That kinda thing went out the window ages ago. Who wouldn't want a little something nice? That – just a little sentiment? Can go so, so far."
Like us, talking.
"Maybe the Tin Man having no heart was a metaphor for him losing passion for life," Isaac said, suddenly taking this conversation in an even more morbid direction. It wasn’t like he was speaking from experience or anything. Nope. Not at all. And it wasn’t like he sort of exploded his feelings all over when he was talking to Sepphy on the freenet.
Well shit.
He was having this problem where he wasn’t sure this was an appropriate conversation to be having with her, like she might not understand his ‘adult’ problems, but she’d proven more than enough times that she was just as much an adult as he was. He was just… double her age.
Clearing his throat, ready to move past that moment, he shook his head. "No, I never saw that one. Sounds fucked up. A lot of stuff made for kids back then shouldn’t have been for children at all, really. There’s a lot of stuff I wish I could watch again. Don’t think many people are looting DVDs unless they’re turning them into solar panels or something. Or use them to burn ants. Or is that magnifying glasses?"
He held his arm out suddenly, his hand colliding with her stomach and halting her movements. "Shh, hold on a sec," he said, eyes zoning on on where he thought he heard a noise coming from. He stood stick-straight for another moment before he saw a cat run out.
Heaving a sigh of relief, he pulled his hand back and glanced over at Sepphy. "Sorry, guess that was a whole lot of nothing. But, uhhh," he droned, trying to remember what they were talking about. Right. "Yeah, everyone likes presents. Guess you just have more logic than me."
"Actually, in some interpretations, that isn't far off. There was this series that took the Oz books in a weird direction, and that was what it was. Like he lost his love, and that was the problem, and then there was Dorothy, and he was in love with her, like so much so that he turned evilly in love with her and would do anything to keep that love and yeah. He was all obsessive and creepy and let's just not go there."
She was quiet for a second, not quite letting the topic drop, because it wasn't as if she'd missed the bit where he could have been referring to himself. "Ignoring the weird side track that those other books took, though, it took a journey for him. A journey, with people who cared about him to help him through it, and at the end, it was there. Had been, and was just...sleeping." She gave a smile, something soft about it. "Just needed to be woken up was all."
"I wish I could invite--" you to movie night was where that statement ended, but she pulled up short and froze when he stopped her. She looked around, trying to see where a threat may be coming from too, and she fell dead silent, even her breathing slowing down. She seemed to remember the nine iron she had with her, and gripped it with both hands like a baseball bat, over one shoulder. Fear shot through her, even if she didn't allow herself to show it beyond the physical tells she couldn't control. Like her face going white as a sheet and the slight tremor in the end of the golf club.
When she saw the cat, she wasn't sure whether or not to be relieved, or if it was just running from zombies, but he seemed to be relieved, so she let go of her held breath, gasping in an air after allowing the first to rush from her lungs.
It took her a second longer to latch back onto the conversation, whether she wanted to or not. Her heart was racing, and she had the urge to hug him again, but managed to refrain. There was a little tremor to her hands though as she took a few steps – but she didn't take many of them before he started to walk with her again, not wanting to be too far.
"...presents. Yeah. They...yeah. People are still people," she said, getting herself back into things. "Just because everything has gone to shit doesn't mean they aren't still...y'know. Vulnerable, or have needs, or just wanna feel like someone cares enough to think about them when they aren't there."
Isaac was pretty used to pausing everything when a suspicious noise happened, but it hadn’t even occurred to him that Sepphy wouldn’t be. It wasn’t until he heard that gasp for air that he looked at her more closely, reaching out to touch her shoulder.
"Hey, whoa whoa whoa," he said, adding pressure to stop them from walking again. "Are you okay? I know it was just a cat, but, it could’ve been something else and that’s…" he trailed off. Scary. The last thing he wanted was for them to get ambushed out here. Hi, nice to meet you, let’s go galavanting, oh shit, zombies. Not exactly a good first meeting.
"We don’t have to go if you don’t want to. Or we can. Either, or. Just let me know."
After stopping when he pulled them up short, Sepphy gave him a smile, but it was just a bit paler than usual. "Yeah, I'm okay," she said, trying to sound fine. "Just – I haven't actually been..." she made a gesture around them. "Out that much. We really locked things down at the school, and pretty fast, considering? So we didn't have to. And we have people who scout and look for supplies and stuff, but I'm not exactly topping anyone's list of people they want with them on a raid, y'know? But I'm okay."
She was just overly aware that she wasn't built for the apocalypse. Physically she didn't have the size or strength for anything long term. Her value was in her head, nothing more. Which didn't do them any good out in the open like this. It was slightly startling to wonder if maybe she had a touch of agoraphobia. Damn, could that onset if you were inside too much? Crap. Now she had to look out for that.
She decided to share some of that. "I just know that nine times out of ten, me versus zombie equals two zombies. The movies might have people all scrappy and ignoring things like that but in real life the short weak kids get eaten."
When he said that they didn't have to go, she immediately shook her head, cheeks flushing. "No! I want to go! I'm not some shrinking flower or anything, and I know I'm not going to fall over dead if one of them breathes at me wrong, and you're here, and all that, just – kicked up my heart is all, and yeah. I'm not some chicken shit, I walked right into the Dog Park, remember? I'm good. I just...y'know. Need to remember to breathe, I guess."
Isaac could understand where Sepphy was coming from. Most of the people at the Capitol would react the same, if not worse, as her if they were out here and heard a cat scuffling on by. Honestly, most of the people he interacted with on a day-to-day basis wouldn’t even be out here so he had to give Sepphy kudos for that. She really did have some huge lady-balls. He still couldn’t believe she went to the Dog Park. He had a lot of mixed feelings about that, actually, considering everything with Demi and the whole Gray Wolfe case that’d been going on. It actually made him really on edge thinking she’d been in their den, but it wasn’t like it was his place to say anything about it.
"Okay, okay, we won’t go back. I come out here often enough that I know what I’m doing. If we get in a tight spot I’ll get you out. I’m not going to let you become a zombie. Or, you know, since promises like that are kind of pointless these days, I’ll do my best to not let you become a zombie," he said, giving her what he hoped was a reassuring smile.
He gave her shoulder a final squeeze before pulling back and motioning towards the direction they needed to go with his head. "Onward?"
"Hooray for knowing what you're doing," she said, smiling at him. "And I'll just toss out there right now if I do happen to become all zombie-like, please, no hesitation, kill me dead," she told him. "I'm assuming that won't be a problem," she added.
She did appreciate the bit of contact though, it was in fact comforting. "Onward!" she agreed, and started forward again, this time with less hesitation, and it melted away entirely quickly enough. "So, what were we talking about? Or do we want to jump into something new?" she asked, eyes a little better on their surroundings now, though that didn't mean she didn't still spare him glances.
There was no way that Isaac would just shoot Sepphy without making her do a quarantine first but he could understand putting her out of her misery if it was clear she was going to die. Like, if the zombie ate out her stomach or something. God. This was morbid.
"Yeah, well, let’s hope it doesn’t come to that," he said, keeping his expression neutral. No point in dwelling on the ‘maybe’.
As they began walking again, he glanced at her every so often, making sure she was still doing okay. They’d been talking about presents or something along those lines, but he didn’t feel like focusing on that either. Things with Demi were so complicated and now they were actively trying to make people believe they were a couple and it put him so far outside of his comfort zone. It was nice to be out here with someone who didn’t know about that and didn’t expect him to act a certain way.
"I think it’s time for a new topic. Any ideas?"
"Of course!" she said. "So far so good, right?" she added. In honesty she didn't quite know what the zombie situation was outside. She knew they were still around, that people still needed to be careful, but she didn't have a clear idea on the numbers. Which made her want to organize large scale clear-out groups of people who volunteered to just kill off zombies around the city.
"Well, an idea just stomped through my brain. Do you think anyone would sign up for a big zombie-kill-squad? Like putting it out there for all shelters, people getting together to just sweep the city, and put down as many walkers as possible. Clear things out better, so maybe people could start spreading out a little again?"
She shifted her gaze to him. "Eventually outside has to stop being quite so dangerous. We're the smarter species. I can even think of lure tactics, and...yeah. Things! Things that might mean a step forward for civilization or something."
Isaac brought a hand up, scratching at the back of his head as he pondered her idea. It certainly a good idea, considering how dangerous it could be outside the shelters, but he wasn’t quite sure how many people would actually go along with a plan like that.
"Depends what kind of risk is involved, I think. Most people don’t want to put themselves in danger if they don’t have to. If we could find some way to corral them or set up some kind of blockade before taking them out, that might work."
Coming to another intersection, Isaac slowed down as he scanned down each way. The coast was clear and he sped up to his normal place, leading them to the next block. "What do you think?"
Sepphy shrugged. "Well, less risk than small parties or individuals wandering around trying to find random stuff they need. If it was a group, it'd automatically be safer, because of the numbers and all that. Plus, it'd make things steadily less risky just over all," she said, still milling it over herself. She did have a mind that worked toward the greater good on one level or another most of the time.
"Incentivization would probably be the hardest sell, I'm thinking. Which, that's a word now, I've used it in a sentence and everything," she said, smirking a touch. "But getting people to think not about number one, but greater good or whatever. As for the blockade thing – that's not a bad idea at all. I was just thinking of routing power someplace like a stadium, or whatnot, and blasting music. Draw as many zeds in as possible from the surrounding area, and just pick them off as they wander in."
She followed his lead when he slowed and sped up, easily keeping up with the changes. Thinking things over a few moments more after he asked his last question, she continued. "I think clearing out other buildings around town would be good, other areas. Could discuss it with other shelters, do it as strategically as possible. The shelters are all fine and good, don't get me wrong. But people being cooped up together, that'll not be great super long term. Plus, like I said. We're the smarter species here, isn't it time we got back around to proving that?"
She looked at Isaac. "And I say all of this knowing that the first thing that some people are going to want to do is claim any cleared buildings as their own, instead of allowing for either shared space, or people to form their own societies there."
There were definitely merits to her ideas, but he didn’t have as much faith in people’s ability to play into the ‘greater good’ like Sepphy did. Maybe it was just another way that he was old and jaded. Oh to be young and optimistic.
"Incentivization is totally a word," Isaac said, nodding his head as he suppressed a smile. "We can add it to the Oxford dictionary, so it will be really official. I mean, we’ll have to write it in with a pen, of course. But it’ll be there in black and white."
It was easier to focus on that than the other ideas, because everyone was stuck in this rut of fear but what would happen if society went back to the way it was? How could they look at themselves and what they’d done under times of duress and justify their actions? Even if she was just talking about clearing out buildings so people had more places to live, she still touched on the selfishness of the human race.
"If you had the option, you’d want to leave Fox Grove?"
"Well someone has to keep track of new words, so why can't it be us?" she asked, laughing. "I think the title is up for grabs, so we're allowed to just nab it and rock on. And we don't have to stop there. We could make up words all willy nilly, it'd be great," she told him.
When he asked about leaving Fox Grove, she didn't answer right away, giving it proper thought. "I don't know. I guess when I talk about doing things for the city or anything else, it's always with the idea in mind that it's not for me, it's for people who are potentially out there, in need or something. I guess it would depend on the option. Like, that whole let's go to Disneyland thing? That sounds awesome." She grinned.
"But I keep thinking longer term, too. That idea of the future, and how I don't see why we have to wait for someone else to do things we can do ourselves, to set it up for the people coming in behind us. There's lots of babies at Fox Grove. I don't really want them growing up where they have to live in a single building because the grown ups couldn't get their shit together, y'know?"
"It’s official then. We are the king and queen of words," he said with a definitive nod. "At least in Austin. Maybe there are people in other cities who have declared themselves royalty of vocabulary but since the freenet doesn’t reach beyond the city, I guess we’ll never know."
It still impressed him how mature Sepphy was. They’d all had to mature and evolve in the new world, but he wasn’t sure if other people were thinking about the bigger picture like Sepphy. A lot of what happened these days was a ‘every man for themselves’ kind of thing. Sure, people pretended to be all civilized and live in close quarters in the shelters, but he wasn’t stupid enough to think that if his life was on the line, any of the senators or their wives would jump to save him.
"We shouldn’t have to wait for someone else to figure it out. I guess I’m just more pessimistic about all of this than you, which is why you are the one proposing the ideas."
"And I'm comfortable with that. Plus, if we do ever find out there are rival royalty of the written word, I'm pretty sure we could take them in a fight," Sepphy said with a laugh. "I give a really mean shin kick."
She purposely knocked into him as they walked. "That's just why you keep me around," she told him. "You can be all pessimistic, but I'm there to balance that shit right out. I can always smile, and come up with progressive ideas, and even when I get shot down horribly, I'll just come up with another one. And in my down time when I'm not talking about all the happy hippy bullshit, then I'm just being silly and cute and bright and sunshiney. It's a win win, really."
"After all, you can keep me grounded in reality or something, and help me take it down a notch without the use of firearms!"
Isaac chuckled quietly, imagining Sepphy actually kicking someone in the shin. He couldn’t even remember the last time he saw that happen. Maybe in some retro 80s movie or something. She did have an old soul, though, so maybe that was her inspiration. "Glad to have you on my team, then."
Her bumping into him took Isaac by surprise, but only for a second before he realized she hadn’t misstepped and was in fact nudging him on purpose. "I’m not going to tell you that you’re too happy, because it’s a miracle you’re still like this. You’re just the, uh, yin to everyone’s yang. Or is the yang the light part? I can’t remember. Anyway. Moral of the story is, yeah, we’re a good balance."
"You better be. I'm awesome, and a well kept secret," Sepphy said with a laugh. She kept walking, not having to think about which was which on the yin or yang question. "Yang is the light part. The 'sunny side'. So yeah that's me. All bright ideas and smiles and laughter," she admitted.
Not that she hadn't already shared with him the darker parts that lurked beneath the surface of her sunny disposition. She'd definitely given him a deeper glimpse than that. "Also, thanks for terming it as a miracle, instead of 'a rich tapestry of insanity and denial, mixed together like melted crayons'. Miracle just sounds better."
"All the better for me, then. Though I guess you’re enough sunshine for everyone so I don’t need to be selfish about it," he said before giving her an amused look. "And of course you know which is which. Shoulda known."
It seemed like they’d been walking a while and he slowed to check another intersection before leading them through again, then glanced at Sepphy again. "How much longer, do you think?"
"My brain, it's a vast, deep mine full of scary gibberish," Sepphy said. "And useless information, and other weird stuff. It's where odd things go to die," she added. Then she paused. "...or maybe a lot of this information is going to get forgotten. Which really makes me sad."
She looked up the street. "It should be just up there – second door in on the right," she said, giving a smile. "It doesn't look burned out or anything!" Which was a good sign, right? She upped her pace a little bit, eager to get there. "Wanna race?"
"No, I don’t think racing is a good idea. Never know what we’re going to find here," Isaac said, almost feeling bad for being the wet blanket. However, he’d been reckless before and lost everything. There was no way he was going to let something like that happen again.
He kept at his normal walking pace, eyes scanning the area as he went and stopped short of the door Sepphy had indicated. The windows were pretty grimy after two years of no regular cleaning. Reaching up, he rubbed away at some of the dirt and peered inside. No movement that he could detect but that didn’t mean he was going to charge in.
He lifted a hand again, this time, tapping at the glass. Noise attracted them, so if there was something inside, hopefully they’d make themselves known now.
Sepphy made a mock pouty-face. "Aww. But hey! If I did get grabbed, you'd totally win," she told him with a smirk. "And who doesn't need a win these days? Isaac – local Batman and champion sprinter!" She did take his point though, and didn't push it or anything.
She watched as he tapped on the glass, and she waited, listening as she kept herself still, even going so far as to shut her eyes for a moment to better narrow down her senses to just hearing. So far, she didn't hear anything, but that didn't mean that the coast was clear, either. Sometimes, the zeds were sluggish after a while of inactivity. So it stood to reason, if there was a few in residence, they might not hop up immediately.
Isaac was quiet as they waited, glancing over at Sepphy after a moment to make sure she was okay. The cat seemed to have freaked her out quite a bit earlier so he couldn’t imagine what an actual zombie on the other side of the glass would do. Thankfully after waiting a minute or so longer, the place still seemed still and silent. Just the way Isaac liked to find a place.
"Seems to be okay. Let’s go in," he said, smiling at her. When the world went to shit it happened pretty quickly and whoever had been in this joint hadn’t bothered to lock up on their way out. So lucky for them the door opened up and Isaac stepped inside.
The air was stale and it was pretty dusty, but that just meant the place was untouched. Seemed like a pretty good sign for them. Further proof that nothing was waiting for them inside.
"So, is it as you remember?"
Sepphy couldn't help the huge smile on her features as she walked in and looked around. It was of course in worse repair than before, but in the end? It wasn't all that different. She laughed, and spun around a little, arms outstretched. "It is!" she told him, looking back at him.
"I mean, sure, it could use a good dusting, but it's definitely like I remember. Wow, I can't believe I'm actually here again," she said, abruptly moving to go look at all the little details. The tables, the pictures on the walls, and of course, in the back corner, the pinball machine.
Dashing over to it, falling into deeper shadows as she got farther from the front windows, she touched it almost reverently, not minding the dust that coated her fingertips as she did so. "...it's still here..."
Isaac followed Sepphy to where the pinball machine was, grinning at the sight of it. There wasn’t electricity so they couldn’t play, but it was nice to see pieces from what the world used to be. Just seeing it, he could remember the flashing lights and the ting-tita-ling noises the machine would make while in play and how his eyes would dart back and forth across as he tried to keep track of the ball.
"This is awesome. How often would you play here?" He asked as he helped her wipe the dust off the machine. Even if it wouldn’t work, he still wanted to get a better look.
She reached out to push the buttons on the side, hearing in her head the sounds of the bumpers flipping. She didn't answer right away, taken in by the machine and clearly loving it, lost in some moment as she bit her lower lip.
She really hadn't seen a strong reaction coming, but there she was, in the midst of it. "Like once a week?" she suggested, not quite sure exactly. The machine had a pull back lever instead of a push button to launch the ball into play, and she pulled it back and released, just to hear that satisfying sound again.
She couldn't help the smile that was almost making her face hurt by now. "I never thought I'd see it again," she said, voice a little softer than before.
Isaac was in the habit of keeping his emotions locked away, though more and more lately, things had been slipping through the cracks. Reminders of how things used to be were always there and here they were actively tracking one down today. Hopefully Sepphy wasn’t going to have an emotional breakdown or something. Isaac couldn’t even handle his own thoughts most of the time and would have no idea how to deal with another person.
"Guess it just shows that we’re, you know, part of the smarter species and that there is still hope for what’s coming tomorrow. Not everything is ruined," he said, in his best attempt at reassurance. "One day there’ll be pizza joints with arcade games in them again, right?"
She looked back to him when he spoke, and laughed. "Yes!" she said. "One day there'll be all of those things, and more," she said, the hope in her voice loud and clear. She hadn't realized that the reassurance that something like this remaining intact was a point of hope for her, but apparently it was.
Then she was hugging him again, tightly. "Thank you!" she said. "Seriously, thank you!"