[log] Bye, Bye, Miss American Pie [closed]

[cahooted]

Characters: Flynn Carsen, Bucky Barnes, Peter Quill, Gamora, Nicole Noone
Location: Various locations around Res 3 and Radiation Zone
Date: Days 393-400
Summary: Dealing with a Celestial crybaby, then dealing with a non!Celestial crybaby and all the fallout that comes from it. Also Flynn and Nicole meet for the very last time which isn't tragic at all.
Warnings: Possible violence, blood, descriptions of broken bones or other injuries, more will be added to headers as needed

Comments

Days 393-398 – Celestial Pains

[cahooted]

[Building 316: This was a house once, but all that's left is a living room. Still, it's lavishly decorated in blacks and reds, thick tapestries depicting the prophet's eye symbol covering the windows and a delicately carved eye drawn on the inside of the door that exits into the rest of the area. At least, with the tapestries, it's a bit warmer in here than in other places. "ALPHONSE ELRIC, DAY TWO HUNDRED AND SEVENTY TWO, CONTACT @LELRIC FOR ANY ASSISTANCE." and "ALPHONSE ELRIC, DAY TWO HUNDRED AND SEVENTY FIVE, CONTACT @LELRIC FOR ANY ASSISTANCE." are written on one of the walls.

Building 307: A small shed, yellow on the Geiger counter, like the kind you might store your gardening tools in. It's barely enough for three people to fit comfortably inside, and adding more than that increases the tightness of the squeeze. "желтый" is written on the back of the door. The word "yellow" has been written under this in three languages: English, Latin, and Ancient Greek. There's also a note that these three additions are a recent alteration to the site.

Building 303: A concrete building with small windows up near the top of it. It shows up green on the Geiger counter. Going inside reveals that it was some sort of maintenance building, the sort you'd find in an obscure area of a town. There are pipes and containers for gas, water, and electricity, but looking inside reveals everything has been stripped out of them. There is a trap door in the back corner that leads to the maintenance tunnels. "ALPHONSE ELRIC, DAY TWO HUNDRED AND SEVENTY TWO, CONTACT @LELRIC FOR ANY ASSISTANCE." is written on one of the walls.]

Day 395 - OTA!

[zunesareawesome]

[Peter's thrown as much of a tantrum as he can over the past couple of days. A lot of yelling, trying to bite, trying to plead, trying to bargain.

So now?

Now he's gonna try to pretend he's back to normal, to trick you into releasing him.]

Hey.

Hey! I just woke up, and--and oh man, I'm so sorry? I'm so sorry, I was...awful, I don't know what just happened and...you gotta release me, untie me, I'm back to normal!

[advanced]

[Bucky doesn't know Peter very well, only the bits of annoyance that he dealt with when they travelled together a while ago, but this still seems understated for him. He's not convinced, but neither is he outright refusing it's true.]

If you're back to normal, you'll understand why I'm not letting you out until I'm sure it's not coming back.

[zunesareawesome]

Oh yeah, I understand.

[Yes. He is so very understanding. Look how understanding he is.]

But you can be sure it's not coming back, I mean like, it's a death price, right? Why would it come back?

[advanced]

I don't know.

[He shrugs, keeping his movements casual.]

This place does a lot of weird things sometimes, it's best to be sure.

[zunesareawesome]

Really? Cause I never heard of stuff like that coming back after a death price. You're in the clear here, bro. Don't gotta worry about it.

[You better believe him here.]

[advanced]

You don't seem too freaked out by what just happened.

[This is what's making him suspicious right now. Peter, in his limited experience, is fairly melodramatic and probably wouldn't take all of this with a simple 'bro'.]

Day 399 – Celestial no more

[cahooted]

[Building 304: A very small shop, yellow on the Geiger counter. The signs have long-since worn away, but going inside, it looks like they specialize in shoe repair! No wonder it's so small--nowadays, that's gotta be a niche market.]

[advanced]

[A: For Flynn]

[Now that Peter is properly back to himself, neither of them have to be watching him constantly to make sure he doesn't either escape or hurt himself. It's made it almost impossible to talk over the last few days, and so now that they have an opportunity, Bucky is slipping over to sit next to Flynn.

He's not great at this. But he's the only one that's here right now, so it'll have to be him.]

You doing okay?

[B: For Peter]

[Bucky let's Peter and Flynn talk first, they're the proper friends and they'll know what needs to be said to one another. He just keeps as unobtrusively out of the way as he can, even in such a small space, until the two men finally separate.

A part of him wants to ignore Peter now that he's not his problem, but he's not so cold as that any more. It's a good thing, even if it's uncomfortable at times. So he moves to stand nearby.]

You were a pain in the ass.

[cahooted]

[Flynn is exhausted, both physically and mentally. He's used to dealing with difficult situations by falling back on wisecracking routines, which he has made use of extensively over the past couple of days, but there's something incredibly daunting about your best friend constantly screaming in your ear about killing you.

And now that that's done he needs to worry about getting Peter back on his feet and that's not going to be an easy task either.]

Fine. Just glad it didn't last decades this time.

[He runs his hand over his face, shaking his head before looking over at Bucky.]

Thanks for helping out, I know it was a pain. And I... know I probably wasn't helping with letting him get to me so much.

[advanced]

You're not human if seeing a friend in pain doesn't get to you.

[He doesn't blame Flynn for that, he doesn't blame Flynn for any of this, even if it has been a pain in the ass to lug around a tied up Peter.]

I didn't think he could get more annoying, but I guess he showed me, huh?

[cahooted]

[That draws a small, tired chuckle from him.]

I guess he did. Who knew a person could complain for so long without running out of air?

[advanced]

I did. I've been travelling with you, haven't I?

[It's a light tease, not something he does often but it seems like Flynn might need the levity right now.]

[cahooted]

Aw, man... [He laughs, scratching his brow. Yeah, he kind of walked into that one, didn't he.] Touché.

[It's nice, though, the rareness of Bucky's jokes carrying even more weight and some of the shadows lift from his face.]

So who wins? Which one of us is more annoying?

[zunesareawesome]

[Peter's not exactly sure that Bucky will ever want to talk to him again after...well, everything. Especially all the everything that happened over the past week. But...well, here he was, actually talking.

Peter looks pretty much like someone broke his most beloved possession and his heart--because they did, but he glances up at Bucky, setting his jaw and preparing for what would probably be (at least) a verbal fight. Come to gloat or somethin', bro?]

Yeah. You won't find me disagreeing there, bro. I was a complete pain in the ass.

[advanced]

Heavy, too.

[Not really, though he had felt progressively heavier to tote around tied up in those drapes day after day.]

So, you gonna tell me what exactly that was all about?

[zunesareawesome]

That's 100% muscle there, bro.

[He knows he's definitely lost weight here compared to back home, going back there and then here was jarring, to say the least, he's disappointed too because he was so proud of being fairly buff? He's still big but definitely not as big as he was, definitely not as heavy as he used to be.]

...what, the being-a-jerk thing? Breaking my Zune? Everything?

[advanced]

Yeah, all of that stuff.

[He's heard bits and pieces from Flynn, but he wants the full story from Peter. He figures he's probably earned if after helping to keep him from doing more damage during his death price.]

For Flynn

[zunesareawesome]

[It's different this time, there's no big announcement, no suddenly Hey guys I'm back!, nothing like that at all.

No, all that changes is that suddenly there's what sounds like someone trying to hold back sobs and failing.

There's the rattle of parts, plastic, metal...as if someone's trying to frantically put something back together that some jerk broke. Peter's still mostly half-tangled up in his sleeping bag, except he's sitting up. His shoulders are shaking. Occasionally he'll frantically wipe his nose with his sleeve, furiously trying to put that something back together. The sounds he's making, half-mutters, random alien swears, indicate that said something is not going to be able to be put back together.

The Celestial is definitely gone. All of his evil self, completely gone.]

[cahooted]

[Sleep doesn't come easy these days. Peter's state of mind has him constantly on edge and when Flynn rests it's no more than a light slumber that he wakes from regularly. He keeps one ear out for his friend and there's plenty to pick up at seemingly all times. Curses, threats, angry mutterings, complaints, strange grunts and noises when he struggles and tries to free himself. They become a familiar and loathed background music over the days.

So when today he hears the stifled sobs Flynn knows what's going on.

He watches Peter for a while, overcome by relief and empathy and and dread; his heart goes out to him immediately but he hesitates. Is it another trick?

... No. He can tell immediately that this is genuine, that this is Peter.

Flynn approaches slowly as not to startle him and sits with him.]

Hey.

[zunesareawesome]

[Peter looks up, startled. There's something different in his eyes, in his face. The coldness was gone, the hardness, where there was an inhuman gaze now is very, very human indeed.]

...hey. Uh. I'm...

[He looks down at the shattered pieces of his Zune.]

Tryin' to fix this. Can you untie me? I promise I'm...really me. I can prove it...

[cahooted]

[Flynn freezes at the huge change he suddenly finds himself confronted with. He's tried to shield his heart as much as possible from that other, that awful Peter and his threats, has gotten used to the sneers and the cold, soulless looks and he is a little unprepared for the emotions on his friend's face.]

I believe you.

[Flynn carefully loosens the restraints, his face softening.]

You want me to give you a hand with this? My last electronics class was a while back but maybe I can take a look...

[It's more a gesture than anything. If they were in a normal city with normal resources something might be possible for the Zune but here? With no instruments, no circuits whatsoever? It's futile.]

[zunesareawesome]

Yeah?

[Once he's free he wipes his nose on his sleeve again.]

Thanks. Yeah, um, if y-you wouldn't mind.

[He picks up one of the plastic pieces, and the broken screen. He doesn't have anything to patch it back together, either.]

I'm, uh...real sorry. About everything.

Day 400 – Visits from old friends

[cahooted]

[Building 300: This place, yellow on the Geiger counter, is more of a former house than a house. It's a mostly collapsed pile of wood and metal. Still, the door is standing, and going through it reveals an interior that's dark and empty but still closes up at night. There's a trap door near the western side of what remains of the interior.]

For Nicole

[cahooted]

[It's probably not the ideal location for a reunion - or any kind of meeting at that - but then again he and Nicole have spent days and weeks in... well. Maybe not in worse places but definitely in ruins without a roof over their head? This one has a roof, so it's an improvement?

Or something like that.

Truth is, he doesn't really care about the house. At least it's not the blood garage and as long as he gets to see her he's happy. It's been way too long. The last days have been daunting and while he is worried about the tablet situation and means to ask around his mind is scattered, distracted. Tomorrow. He'll look into it tomorrow.

Today he just wants to take a well-earned break and see his Guardian.]