cactusy: (are you all about to die?)

[personal profile] cactusy 2025-03-22 10:07 pm (UTC)(link)
She knows that bark, and as soon as she hears it, she's sure that it's a trick of the woods - and though that suspicion isn't in any way dispelled by seeing him in the flesh just a few seconds after she hears him, that doesn't stop her from dropping to her knees and opening her arms, inviting him to bound right into them.

"Hey, buddy," she murmurs, rubbing his ears and nuzzling her frost-nipped nose into his fur. "Where'd you come from, huh?"

His saliva freezes to her face where he licks her cheek, and she does not fucking care. Bear.

More human-sized footsteps sound off in the woods to her left, boots crunching on snow and fallen branches, and she looks up - not immediately suspecting danger (it hadn't sounded nearly large enough to be the other bear), but alert regardless.

"Hey, who's out there?"
cactusy: (yay‚ nightmares!)

[personal profile] cactusy 2025-03-23 03:51 pm (UTC)(link)
Of course Root has the capacity to make quippy little jokes right now. Shaw, on the other hand, has to settle for gaping in mute shock, fingers still curled in Bear's fur. She's of course known for a while that people from home popping up was a possibility, even if she's been conflicted on whether or not it's something to properly hope for. But Root, Root who'd died--

In a place filled with impossible possibilities, that's an entirely new layer to grapple with.

"You aren't real," she says, because after everything she's seen, of course she has to consider the idea (over and over and over again). But even as she says it, she's pulling herself to her feet and walking towards her.
cactusy: (the rarest jewel of all: victory over me)

[personal profile] cactusy 2025-03-23 05:22 pm (UTC)(link)
Shaw claps both gloved hands onto Root's shoulders - not the most tender of gestures, maybe, but it serves its purpose. Root is, at the very least, solid. She leaves her hands where they are, but her grip softens a bit, her palms resting on Root's shoulders rather than squeezing them.

"If you faked your death, Root, I swear to god."
Edited 2025-03-23 17:23 (UTC)
cactusy: (don't worry‚ I'm wearing pants)

[personal profile] cactusy 2025-03-23 05:58 pm (UTC)(link)
"No. All we know is that it wasn't supposed to happen."

And even that is intel from the Darkwalker, who doesn't exactly engender trust. Still, Shaw is inclined to believe it; she certainly doesn't feel like any of this is a part of nature's design.

"So, what, you think I died, too?" she asks, her tone as matter-of-fact as always. That initial period of shock may have passed quickly, but her hands are still on Root, and she hasn't looked away from her once. Bear is understanding of this, and contents himself with leaning against her legs.
cactusy: (no offense)

[personal profile] cactusy 2025-03-24 03:43 am (UTC)(link)
No, absolutely not, because hunting for shelter means tearing her eyes away from Root, and she absolutely does not want to do that.

She doesn't say that, of course. She doesn't even contemplate saying it: when it comes to making the practical choice, Shaw very rarely flinches. But finding it easy to make a particular choice isn't the same as wanting to make it.

"Sure," she says, letting go of Root's shoulders and dropping her hands back to her sides, giving Bear's ears another rub. "We're about a mile from town, and about a quarter-mile from the mines. Dealer's choice."
cactusy: (let the intrusive thoughts win)

[personal profile] cactusy 2025-03-24 03:50 pm (UTC)(link)
Say no more: Shaw immediately moves to Root's left, flanking her bad ear.

"Has anybody told you about the Auroras yet?" she asks, her eyes forward as they walk. Sappy sustained eye contact can make its return later; for now, safety is her priority. "Electricity powers back up, but sometimes things go haywire; that might be dangerous for you."
cactusy: (she's 85% of my impulse control)

my bad, I missed this!

[personal profile] cactusy 2025-03-28 01:59 am (UTC)(link)
"It doesn't look like it, but there's a population here. Not a big one, but - thirty, forty people."

It's a low-ball guess; she's underestimating the number of people who live in buildings and settlements away from Milton's town center. This is a place where it's very easy to miss people.

"A real group of oddballs, if you ask me. But, uh-- I guess we're both used to that."
cactusy: (she's 85% of my impulse control)

[personal profile] cactusy 2025-03-30 12:08 am (UTC)(link)
"They're not our kind of oddballs," Shaw says wryly - or more accurately, they're not either of their kind of oddball, because as far as she's concerned, she and Root are two distinct oddball types that just happened to end up jiving well together. "Don't count on finding too many kindred spirits. Some of them are okay, though. I've been here for, uh..."

She has to pause to think; calendars aren't so much a thing, and she hasn't bothered keeping track manually. The length of the days is really the best time indicator, so--

"I got here in the fall. It's spring now."
cactusy: (I'm waiting for someone)

[personal profile] cactusy 2025-03-30 02:28 pm (UTC)(link)
"You ever see that thriller movie where a flash freeze spreads across the east coast, turning everyone and everything in its path to ice? That happened here a couple months ago. Then the storm passed."

Which is to say that yes, it had been no mean feat, and the mundanity of wilderness survival has been the least of it.

"There's a bear that was an intangible ghost until it suddenly wasn't. I'll show you my scars sometime. Things that happen here don't make sense. I don't know how to prepare you for it. You just have to go along for the ride and see where it takes you."

There's an edge of frustration to her voice, though it's not directed at Root, or even at her own inadequacies at explaining the mind-bending situation. It's just that regardless of whether or not she believes that it's real, life here reminds her too much of being in Decima's hands: where opportunities to take control of her own life hadn't been entirely nonexistent, but had still been few and far between.
cactusy: (let the intrusive thoughts win)

[personal profile] cactusy 2025-03-31 10:10 pm (UTC)(link)
"We should try to stick together. Come up with prearranged meeting places if we separate."

It's not their usual MO, but considering the circumstances - the extreme environment, the practical dangers of solo wilderness travel, the lack of communication options - it seems like the best choice available to them.

"I've got some friends in Lakeside - that's through the mines. You should meet them."
cactusy: (let the intrusive thoughts win)

[personal profile] cactusy 2025-04-01 12:22 am (UTC)(link)
"Uh-- I dunno."

Shaw, as ever, remains unsentimental. Root will be lucky if she gets more than brief descriptions and lists of applicable skills out of her, honestly.

Michonne's a badass who's good with weaponry, and the Doctor is eccentric in the way you are. 'The Doctor' is the only thing he lets people call him."
cactusy: (this planet both wipes and sucks)

[personal profile] cactusy 2025-04-01 05:54 pm (UTC)(link)
Shaw snorts quietly, shaking her head. If only.

"It takes all day to walk there; we'll go tomorrow. How do you feel about spending the night in the mines? They're on the way; you go through them to get to Lakeside."

Technically there's nothing stopping them from taking their planned rest in the mines, hiking back to Milton for the night, and then heading back out to the mines the next morning; it's completely doable physically. But energy and resource conservation are constantly on Shaw's mind here - and generally, if she can consolidate travel time, she will.

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