nexus_crossings | (no subject)

Joshua isn't the only person roaming through the Nexus with a lot of disorders, as 'Josh' happens to be walking by when the question is asked. He almost ignores the teen entirely, wanting to get home rather quickly, but stops upon getting a glance at Joshua. Most teenagers get under his nerves, but it's the comment about identity theft that causes 'Josh' to approach calmly, putting away the small ear-bud headphones he's wearing.

"Seems like a pretty good deal." He shoves his hands into the pockets of his black track jacket, staring at the bag Joshua is holding, his gaze finally resting of the croissant. Food is overly appealing after a light jog through the Nexus and he doesn't want to start begging for anything, given how desperate and sad that would look. Sociopath tendencies aside, he's trying his hardest to have a normal conversation with the person he aptly shares a name with.

"Let me guess: someone was pulling a joke on you?"

"I know the cooks here. Trust me, the food's to die for."

Josh pops the flaky pasty piece into his mouth and holds out one of the bags toward the other man. It's filled nearly to the brim of baked goods. He's pretty sure with all the free food 'get to know you' events the proprietors of this cafe put on, neither will mind if he shares this stuff rather than letting it go to waste.

"Well then 'Seymour', glad I found you. Enjoy your meal." There's a bit of a sardonic grin at the name before Joshua goes back to picking apart the buttery pastry he's selected to eat.

"Not me, nah. First, I wouldn't have fallen for something so lame. Second, I'm just the delivery guy. My boss told me to deliver this order to such and such address. Wasn't until I got most of the way there I decided to check for the name and...well." He shrugs. "I get paid either way, and now I get lunch on top of it. Pretty good deal, for me."

"Well, too much of a good thing can have consequesnces, but I'm willing to take a chance on what you're offering."

He gets to peek into the bag, carefully examining each baked treat, until he finally settles on a chocolate chip muffin. Identity theft is a wonderful thing, whether it's a simple treat or someone's Netflix password: he's always ready to play a different part for rewards. Josh gets a smile back as he takes a seat next to the teenager, carefully holding onto the newly acquired muffin.

"At least the caller didn't have you check to see if your refrigerator was running...and that's a pretty lame joke." Good to have that muffin as a distraction, as he carefully tears off a piece, popping it into his mouth. Wow. He can't even hide his pleasure towards the perfectly baked treat. "Now I wish I had a latte to go with this. You weren't joking when describing the quality of Nexus bakers."

He leans back in the sofa, shifting his gaze between the sweet chocolate muffin and Josh. "Don't really have a good answer to you other question, sadly. The closest thing I've done in comparison was getting into trouble during college. Wild parties, spring break, stuff like that."

"Eh, details. Good thing's a good thing as far as I'm concerned."

Josh that opinion is why you're a borderline alcoholic. Ah well, not everyone's coping mechanisms are healthy. It hardly matters now at any rate. For now, he's content to enjoy the pastry he's snagged from the bag.

"Do people even use that joke anymore? Oh my god that has to be older than my father." He wrinkles his nose and gives a shake of his head. "Yeah? I didn't pull too many pranks in college. But mine are always Maximum Effort."

"Are you always the optimistic one? You don't have to answer that question if you don't want to."

Josh's reaction just causes him to frown and turn away, embarrassed by what he just said mere moments ago. "Ugh. Can we act like I didn't say that?" He's never been one to blend in well with the younger crowds, as evident by his terrible jokes. "Maximum Effort? Mind filling me in on what kind of pranks you actually did?"

"Me? Fuck no. I just like what I like and too much of it's probably still pretty great."

Movies, alcohol, his best friend. All good things with no real definition of what too much would even be as far as Josh is concerned. He does back to munching on the pastry he'd snagged.

"Say what?" Sure, he's game for playing along. Lord knows Josh says a ton of shit he wishes he didn't. He can sympathize there. He thinks about the kinds of pranks he's known for, though the most recent one is nixed out as a conversation topic. he doesn't like to remember that night.

"I was always pretty good at prop making. Like, this one time my sisters and her friend wanted to go camping. And not like, hey there's a cabin in the woods with no internet but like real camping. Sleeping on the ground and shit. It was awful. And they always like to tell spoopy stories and shit around the fire.So I figure, if they want to be scared, why stop at stories? I spent a good three weeks making a realistic corpse mannequin and hid it in my duffel bag. I packed my shit in with my bros and hid the doll in there. Waited for them to go take a hike and strung it up in the tree. Then, that night? Dropped it on them at the climax of their story."

He chuckles at the memory and grins a bit.

"There is no satisfaction more great than watching the alpha make bro types scream like a bunch of girls because of a few special effects. Best camping trip ever."

Edited 2017-06-15 23:16 (UTC)

"Go for it then. You only live life once, after all."

Coming from a man who takes way too much pride in killing people, that last sentence holds a great deal of value to 'Josh'. He just smiles at the question, then turns his attention to the story at hand. Immediately the topic of camping catches his eye, and as the tale progresses, it becomes harder and harder to hide his excitement.

"That's great! To see all your hard work pay off in glorious spades makes it all worth it. But, I have to ask now...why deliveries?" He points to the bag as if to make a statement. " I mean, if you have such a knack for making props, why not find a job in the Nexus that caters to prop-making? Heck, there's bound to be some movie businesses somewhere around here."

"Right?!"

Josh snorts, glad to see someone else who understands the art of a prank. The thrill of giving excitement and scares to folks leading otherwise boring lives. He lives for that kind of thing. Giving people stories. Experiences.

Well. He used to, anyway. The question makes him withdraw slightly, teeth sinking into his bottom lip as he considers how to best answer.

"I can't...hold down a full time job." He gestures to his head vaguely. "Shit's wrong with my head. Some days....I'm no good to anyone especially myself. The guy I share the house I'm in with helps run the place, so he gave me a part time job there running deliveries and working the cash register when I can."

"Exactly! Scaring people is a fun rush, seeing their true and natural reactions are simply priceless."

Ouch. He can visibly see the change in Josh's mood, causing him to sit up, holding the muffin carefully in his hands. Normally he wouldn't show any sort of sympathy to Josh's plight, but he gets it: the struggle of fitting in when people think you're crazy. Now the elaborate prank seems to make more sense, and he so desperately wants to talk more about Josh's mental issues, but he sees an opportunity at hand.

"Hear me out, but you sound like a master of the macabre, and the best way to control those feelings is to channel them into your work." He gives Josh a smile and a small nod of the head. "I've been wanting to start up a horror-themed business here in the Nexus and having the right filming set is key in getting the audience excited. Does that sound like something you'd be interested in?"

"I'd..."

Is this some kind of joke? A cruel prank being set upon him? This is literally Joshua Washington's dream job being offered out on a silver platter. What's the catch? Surely there has to be one. And then he remembers. The first time he has an episode. The first time he starts talking to himself or the props...or to his sisters who aren't there.

The first time he tries to hurt someone when he loses touch of what's real.

It will all be taken away again.

"I'd love to. You gotta know that. But I mean, like I said. I'm not...okay. I'm..there's something wrong with me. I don't want to damage your business' reputation, you know? Image is everything, at least in Hollywood."

The catch is obviously not being stated: he wants to set up a dangerous game show where people are kidnapped. To have a really great show, scenery is important and Josh would fit that niche perfectly, especially with this newly announced statement of having a mental condition. The teen seems less likely to question his murderous tendencies in comparison to a normal person. So when Josh refuses the offer, he's visibly taken back.

"I think you have the perfect personality for it." He shakes his head. "Hey, I won't force you to make a decision you're not comfortable with, but the offer stands in the future."

Placing the half-eaten muffin on a nearby table, he reaches for a pen and paper which have been left behind. Writing down a phone number and address, he offers the information to Josh calmly.

"Reach out to me if you change your mind."

What Joshua doesn't know certainly can't hurt him! His hesitation comes from years of his parents telling him exactly the same thing. Just be normal for one evening, Joshua. This is a very important event so we need you to not have an incident. Think about how you're making us look, Joshua.

"Y..you're serious." Josh looks down at the paper and then back. Sinks his teeth into his bottom lip while he thinks for a moment before hesitantly holding out his right hand to shake.

"I'm...I'm Joshua Washington. By the way."

"There's no point in joking about something like this." He's a low patience kind of guy, so dragging out a needless conversation is pointless. The muffin is reclaimed while Josh has a moment to let things sink in, until a handshake is offered. It takes him a moment to respond and return the handshake, mainly because of the awkward name situation. He's been calling himself Josh, but since he's taken to doing bad things anonymously, maybe its best to come up with a second alias.

"Dave." The last victim he killed provided him with a lot of amusement, and now, an acceptable name. "It's a pleasure to meet you Josh." He's keeping up a normal smile while shaking hands, thankfully not getting too excited over this possible new recruit.

"Now that you know I'm serious: is the offer still something you need to think about?"

"Okay Dave. Yeah. Good."

Josh is very much going to scrawl the name 'Dave' on the paper he was given because it's pretty rude to forget your potential employer's name in just about any job offer situation he's ever been in. There is no real suspicion of any ulterior motives at play here. The man has been nothing but kind and understanding, so far as Josh is concerned.

He folds up the paper and sticks it into his flannel shirt pocket.

"I uh..I do? but for..other reasons. I gotta check with my housemate and work out some stuff, but I'll call you once I get my shit sorted?"

"Sure. The sooner you find out, the better."

Although he'd prefer to have an answer now, impatience and all, he's willing to give this time. It's very hard finding the right people to bring into his 'business' circle, but the payout seem worth all the effort, given how many goody-goody people exist in the Nexus. Speaking of work, there's a buzzing sound coming from his jacket pocket, followed up by a slightly audible notification song.

He doesn't even seem fazed by the interruption, quickly removing his cell phone in order to glance at the incoming message. If Josh does try to read over his shoulder, the text seems completely innocent, talking about friends coming over. In fact, he's smiling and oohing to himself, before realizing that he's actually sitting next to someone instead of being alone. Oops.

"Sorry Josh, but work calls. Have to meet with some promising clients to see if they can handle my creative ideas." He stands up, offering his hand to Josh politely. "If you have any questions, do not hesitate to call me."

Adia is having a good day, too, if her appearance is anything to go by. Or it might be due to the trio of pokemon following her through the Plaza. The one that looks like a fiery orange dog notices Josh first, or rather, the bag full of delicious smells that he is holding. She trots his way and stops at the couch with a hopeful look on her face. Treats? For me?

"Sarah..." Adia catches up to her, smiling brightly when she sees who the friendly growlithe has found. "Oh, hi Josh! How are you doing? Sarah, there is nothing in there for you." Although Adia can't help but admire the bag of take-out as well. She's had Ice Bear's soup, she knows how good it is. "I can't believe people pull pranks with food deliveries. It's such a waste."

She's not going to bother answering his question. Her, pull a prank? Instead, she asks with mild concern, "Were you okay during the invasion? Your apartment building didn't get damaged, did it?"

"Adia!"

The young man's face breaks out into a slightly larger smile, clearly pleased to see one of his friends here in the plaza today. Though he pauses at the uh....the...dog? It looks really familiar to him somehow. ~~Chris would disown him if he knew Josh didn't recognize a Pokemon especially one of the original 150~~. Either way it gets a friendly head pat and a scritch about her neck.

"Oh, no T-R-E-A-T-S for the dog, huh?" The other two odd companions Adia has are getting slightly more confused looks. The fuck is that? A dino with a satellite for a head? A giant stuffed animal looking bird? Strange.

"Well it won't be a waste if I share it with folks, right?" He'll scoot over to give her space to sit and offer her one of the bags. "No. I live at IceBear's place and watch over it when he's out of the Nexus. It's in the Plaza so...you know. It was fine. I was mostly getting folks to shelter."

He hopes Isidor made it out okay. Josh hasn't heard from her since.

Sarah basks in the attention. A bite of that buttery croissant would sure be nice, but she'll happily settle for pettings. "She's a growlithe," Adia explains. "I'm watching Steve's pokémon... he was injured during the invasion." Rather badly, if the way her smile falters is any indication. "Bucky's wary of strangers, but Ethel is friendly, too. I'm still learning what they can and can't eat, so they probably shouldn't have anything in that bag."

Adia, however, is not going to say no to a free meal. She may look clean and refreshed, but there has been a steadily mounting food crisis in the Fleet. She'll take food wherever she can get it. She sits down next to Josh and smiles at him gratefully when he passes over the bag. Peering into it, she sighs longingly. "Is that Ice Bear's ramen?"

Bucky perches on the back of the couch and gives Josh a suspicious stare. Ethel settles at her feet. "Oh, that's good. That was kind of you to help others. I was in the Plaza, too, performing first aid." She looks around with a small frown. Hard to imagine that just a short time ago this place was overflowing with refugees. "Have you been here for previous invasions? it was... well, if I hadn't already been used to war, I think I would have been overwhelmed."

"I don't know Steve." Josh shakes his head but glances down at the creatures again with a bit more recognition on his face. "Ah, right. Pokemon. I thought these guys looked familiar." So the guy must be some kind of trainer? That makes sense to Josh at least. "I'm...sorry your friend got hurt Adia. I really am."

The bag with the plastic container in it does indeed carry some of IceBear's infamous ramen and a pair of wooden chopsticks plus a spoon to go with it. Josh hasn't even peeked into that bag yet. He was distracted with the officer's baked goods.

"Help yourself. There's plenty here. Guess if your'e gonna prank order food, it's better to do it in bulk." He shrugs. Lugging it here wasn't fun, but at least now he can feed his friends.

"I uh...no. I haven't. But...I've seen worse things."

He must be a great trainer, because all three pokémon are incredibly well-behaved. "it's okay, Josh." She winces at her word choice. "I mean, it's not okay that he got hurt, but he's going to pull through. He just needs time to heal." She hopes. She hopes so hard.

She only hesitates a moment before pulling the container and utensils out of the bag. "You're sure that there isn't a guy named..." She pauses, knowing that she won't be able to say "Seymour Butts" without snickering. "A guy named that? The Nexus is full of possibilities."

Her mood sobers quickly at Josh's admission. "Your hallucinations?" she asks softly. She looks him over in concern, but he seems as put together as he's ever been. "But you're doing okay right now?"

The Growlithe at his feet must sense his distress because she noses right up in between his knees and plops her head on his lap. Turn that frown upside down, human! Adia and her friends must be happy. Beeeeeeee happppyyyyyy. Of course, all that comes out is a chipper sort of bark that sounds more like "Grow grow!" than anything else.

"If there is then he's not claiming his food. Because he's late and this is the spot I was said to head for." Josh has a faintly sad smile on his face as he strokes Sarah's ruff. It's soothing, having an animal that isn't afraid of him. Usually they bolt when he gets close. It's like they can smell the crazy. "So really, help yourself. Ice wouldn't want it to go to waste."

The mention of his...episodes...makes him tense somewhat, but he nods after only a few seconds of hesitation.

"That...too. But, I've seen literal monsters. ....My sister was turned into one." Fucking Wendigo. Josh's stomach turns at the memory and he nearly gags on the buttery pastry he'd been trying to eat. She's not here, Josh. She's gone. No matter what your head tries to tell you, there are no Wendigo here.

"But the hallucinations are pretty shit too."

Adia can't help but smile at Sarah's antics. "Oh, she really likes you, Josh. That's sweet." It makes her glad that she brought the pokémon with her to the Plaza, even if Bucky is still looking disgruntled. Ethel is naturally taking the opportunity to catch some shut eye.

Finally satisfied that there is no Mr. Butts who will storm up to them and demand his food, Adia snaps apart the disposable wooden chopsticks and pops off the plastic lid. She brings the bowl up so she can inhale all that broth-y goodness before balancing it carefully in one hand so she can grab noodles with the other. "Ice Bear gave me a bowl of this when I was all hung over... he is such a good friend."

Mouth full of noodles, she needs several seconds to swallow them with as little slurping as possible before she can respond. "Oh, Josh... I'm so sorry." So many of his earlier comments make sense with this added context. "Is that... is that why she died?"

"Yeah? M..most animals don't. She's a sweetheart. Good girl....there's a good girl."

It's helping him calm down, having her there to stroke and feel the warmth her body gives his hands. Reminding him this is Real and that he's safe here. That they may be talking about bad memories, but it doesn't mean anything more than that. He relaxes into the back of the couch, signing slightly and still idly petting Sarah while he watches people walk by in the plaza.

Ice is a great friend, Josh would agree. Allowing Josh to live with him and all that in exchange for just housework? That's more than just a good friend. He owes the bear so much.

"They were twins. One died in the fall. The other...." He shakes his head. "She became something else. Chris said---" He chokes on his words for a moment. "Chris said she died when they escaped the lodge. Burned up in the fire."

Edited 2017-06-12 16:12 (UTC)

"Pokémon aren't like regular animals." It feels a little like she's stating the obvious, but it's the conclusion that she's come to after spending so much time with these three. "They can understand me... not just my emotions, but some of what I've saying, too." She reaches up to gently scratch at Bucky's feathers. He chirrups softly in response. "They make me feel safe, too... they're taking care of me as much as I'm taking care of them."

The soup is delicious, but she can't enjoy it while Josh is suffering through a painful memory. She sticks the chopsticks into the bowl so she reach over and touch his arm. "That's hard... that's so hard. I'm sorry."

"You'd like them. My sisters, I mean. The didn't have a mean bone in 'em. Always so happy. Full of life."

Josh sighs and squeezes his eyes shut for a minute. It's all too much. He pulls away slowly at the warm nose nudging at his arm. Sarah's tail has stopped wagging and she lays her head down in Josh's lap intently. Hang in there human! It's going to be okay.

"But...there's no chaining what happened. So....You gotta just keep going at it. Even when everything sucks." Which is.....pulling it mildly."

"I'm sure I would," Adia agrees whole-heartedly. She likes most people anyway, but Josh's sisters sound like especially sweet girls. The kind she would have liked to have as friends when she was their age.

It looks like Sarah's got the whole physically comforting thing down, so she withdraws her hand and eats some more of her ramen. "Yeah," she says quietly, commiserating with Josh's words. She wishes she had something uplifting to say in return...

"Guess what," she says finally. "We found evidence recently that Earth is real. It looks like we're going to find it soon." Maybe he won't care, too deep in his own dark thoughts, but it's something, right? "And, oh... we got off New Caprica. The day after you helped me. Thanks again for that, by the way."

His hands find themselves burying into Sarah's fluffy fur around her neck and giving her loving attention while he tries to think of something not terribly sad and depressing to say, for once. Sometimes he feels like all he does is bring other people down.

"Yeah?" He looks over at her after a long moment and twitches the beginning of a smile across his face. "I hope it's as good of a chance for your people as you think it is." When she thanks him for his help he flushes a bit and glances away.

"You're welcome. It's..I mean, it's what anyone woulda done."

"Yeah." She grins, happy to see the beginnings of a smile. "I hope so, too. We're following a beacon to another part of space... they meant for us to find them, so hopefully they'll be willing to help."

"Not anyone," she gently disagrees. "You're a very charitable person, Josh." She holds up the bowl of ramen as an example. "You were there for me when I needed someone. That means a lot to me."

"It's a good sign then. We sent out probes and satellites into deep space too, with inscriptions on them and messages should anyone or anything find them out in the void. Music. Mathematical diagrams. So I gotta think if they left a beacon, it would have had some sort of information on it on the off chance it was found."

Space isn't really his expertise of random knowledge, but he knows a bit. Just enough Revamped Cosmos knowledge to hopefully give Adia a bit of hope that isn't just empty words but based on fact about his Earth.

"I don't...like to see people suffering. Is all. You've been nothing but nice to me, you know? I wanted....I wanted to help if I could."

"It had coordinates, but no other information, so far as I know." She's intrigued by the idea of inscriptions of music and mathematics, and frowns thoughtfully at the idea. "It would have been nice to have more than that, but if they're running under the assumptions that the Sacred Scrolls haven't been corrupted over time, then there wouldn't be a need for it. That's a neat idea, though, I'm glad people on your Earth did that."

She watches him quietly for a moment, hoping he'll look at her again. "Things are much better now," she tells him. It's important that he knows that, that she isn't still suffering. "And if there's anything I can do to help you, you let me know, okay?"

"Well, when we sent them out, we were trying to get information from them not so much worry about if someone else found 'em. But just in case they did, there was some stuff on there to point back to us. You know, 'Earth was here' kind of a thing."

Josh finishes the pastry he had set aside before and smiles softly down at Sarah to give her one last pet before his attention is fully on Adia again. He's really not used to be given compliments, especially these days.

"Good. You deserve better." He means it, too. So much about this woman reminds him of his sisters in a way that makes him want to be a better person. Help her out whenever he can. "Really, if you see me out screaming at shadows, just make sure you call Han or Icebear or something. Take me back to Ice's house. So I don't hurt no one."

He shrugs. It would be nice if he knew what was wrong with him, or how he could treat it, but after so long with no one being able to diagnose him, Josh has nearly given up on ever getting better.

Edited 2017-06-17 14:40 (UTC)

"And no one was worried about whose attention that might attract?" She grimaces a little and adds, "Sorry. I'm too used to hiding from the Cylons."

It's her turn to blush a little at the compliment. She's unsure if he means her ex-boyfriend or her situation in general, but with the two tied up so tightly with one another, it doesn't really matter. She nods solemnly at his words, taking his condition seriously. "I will. I have Ice Bear's contact on my PINpoint. Who is Han? I don't think I've met him."

"Not really? We wanted other worlds to know we were out there. Make contact. All that jazz. Jury's still out on whether that actually works out for my world though."

Not that Han or Ice could fix him either, but they at least have experience with him being batshit insane. They can wrangle him up and get him away from other people at least. Less likely for him to get hurt, too.

Josh almost scoffs in disbelief at someone not knowing Han Solo, but Adia's world is much different than his is. It's easy to forget a cultural icon could be anyone to someone who doesn't know.

"He's a friend of mine. Owns the speeder I helped fix last summer.He's a pilot, likes to wear vests."

"Contact with aliens," she says with a slightly questioning lilt to make sure she's understanding him correctly. "I don't know, I used to think the odds were better for alien life, but we've been halfway across the galaxy by now and haven't found anybody else. But maybe it's different where you're from."

Perhaps someday Adia will have an opportunity to watch some Earth movies and get better acquainted with its pop culture. Until then, Han Solo is just another Nexus denizen. But she'll make an effort to find him, if it's important to Josh. "A pilot? What does he fly?"

"Oh, yes. With aliens I mean."

He gives a thoughtful tilt to his head. Pauses to rummage around in the bags of food for another pastry to nibble on. Ooh, home made foccacia. Score! Nom nom nom.

"S'far as I know humans have never been living anywhere but Earth in my world, so like..." He pulls up a picture of the planet on his phone and hands it over to her. "When that photo was taken every man, woman, and child alive and dead were all in that photo, except for the person who took it. It's crazy, you know?"

"He has a cargo ship called the Millenium Falcon. I forget what model ship it is, but it's got FTL capabilities. He flies all around his home galaxy in it."

Sarah's nose wiggles at the smell of home made foccacia, but otherwise she's content to stay close to Josh and keep him company. Ethel has already dozed off, and Bucky is periodically breaking his creepy bird stare to gaze longingly at Adia's ramen. Adia pretends not to notice, but makes a mental note to give all three pokémon some treats when they get back to Steve's apartment.

Setting the plastic bowl in her lap, she takes Josh's phone. She has seen this particular photo before during her intermittent research of Earth, but she still takes a minute to look it over, her expression full of wonder, as if someone has given her a precious gift. "It's so beautiful... "

Josh's words break her out of her trance. She hands back his phone, suddenly a lot more interested in his friend Han. "A spaceship? Is he from an Earth, too, or somewhere else?"

"Yeah, it...it is. Sorry. I didn't mean..."

It's not like he wants to rub it in, with her being from a place that's searching desperately for Earth. It's the only home he's ever known. At least until taking up residence in the Nexus, that is.

The phone is quickly pocketed in either case. He shakes his head quickly.

"They don't have Earth where he's from. There's a lot of planets in his galaxy that have humans on them, and tons more with all other kinds of life. He's from a place called Corellia."

It takes her a moment to catch on to why he's apologizing. "No, it's fine," she reassures him. "We'll be finding our Earth soon, I'm sure of it."

There's a small amount of disappointment that she tries hard not to show. If Mr. Solo is not from Earth, then the star charts he has on his ship won't be of much use to her. But by the time she picks up her bowl of ramen, now nearly gone thanks to her appetite and Ice Bear's amazing cooking, her interest in Josh's friend returns. "Someone else not from Earth... there aren't a lot of us, are there?" She smiles. "I look forward to meeting him. He's not from the same universe as Shark, is he? The little alien lawyer?"

"I don't think so? I mean maybe but if he is it's not any species I recognized." Not like Joshua is an expert on every single random alien costume ever that was shown in the movies. That was more Chris's hobby.

"He's kind of arrogant but not like a total asshole about it. He's always looking out....for me. Actually I'm glad I was able to help him with the speeder. He broke his arm last summer in that weird coliseum thing that happened. Until then, he was really only ever helping me. So I got to give back, then."

"Okay." She shrugs and returns to her ramen. It doesn't hurt to ask.

She thinks for a moment that he's still talking about Shark, but despite how fond she is of the diminutive clone, there's no "kind of" modifying his arrogance. "I'm glad Han has been looking out for you. I know how important it is to give back, too. I'm glad you got the opportunity." She pauses, the last few curls of noodle clinging to her chopsticks. "Do I want to know about the weird coliseum thing?”

"I don't know too much about it? People signed up to spar with other people for a chance to win money, but I guess only some of the people volunteered? All I know is that Han freaking Solo fought Captain Kirk and kicked his scrawny ass."

Adia may have to find a less biased person to get the details on this particular event. Josh is quick to talk up all of the badass moments his friend had.

"Though the guy I was sitting with--weird guy in a leather skirt-- seemed pretty bummed that Kirk lost."

Something akin to distaste passes across Adia's features. Not enough to put her off her ramen, but enough to make her chew her last bite slowly and without pleasure. Fighting. And with some people dragged into the spectacle involuntarily! She will never understand why anyone would want to participate in such an event, let alone watch.

Not that she holds it against Josh. He's young man, they're usually into that sort of thing. Finally swallowing, she wipes at her mouth with a napkin and listens to his description of the disappointed man who sat next to him during the fight. "Oh, that must be Felix. He's Jim's boyfriend."

Only belatedly does she realize that maybe she shouldn't have said that so freely. As frustrated as she is over how loose Felix plays with the truth, he's still her friend, and she's willing to respect the things he keeps private. She doesn't know if this is one of those things.

Josh nods, though he notes after a moment that Adia doesn't seem all that keen on the idea. He settles down quickly and nibbles at his food again instead. Upsetting her isn't really what he'd intended to do, after all.

"Well, I know Han signed up for a chance to get the funds he needed to fix his ship. So it was a good thing, you know? Not so much him getting hurt but he had me around to help him out while he recovered."

She's not sure what it says about Han, that he'd be willing to fight for money to repair his ship, but he's Josh's friend, so she won't pass judgement. Josh needs all the friends he can get. "He was lucky to have you around," she says, her smile returning. "You're good at caring for others."

Her bowl empty, she closes the lid back on. "Thank you again so much for the ramen. I'm going to recycle this and then take Steve's pokémon to the park. Do you have any other trash? I can take it with me."

Dean is on his way to the Atomic Range with a borrowed sniper rifle slung over his shoulder. That or he has been looking to return it to the original owner, or maybe he wants to pocket it for himself. It is the same gun Adam left behind while he was on the roof, and the same gun he used to shoot Khan with.

He grinds to a stop when he spots Josh and he hears the words pranks, a devilish smile appears on his face.

"Little dude, I am the master of pranks. And you bet'cha I had many prank wars with Sam." He takes in a deep breath, and he puts a hand to his chin. "Best one was when I replaced his shampoo with Nair. You know the stuff that removes your hair. Dude was pissed at me for months. As for your second question... Count me in. I'm hungry and I'm more than happy to help someone with a little five finger discount."

The Winchester brothers have always been good by Josh, so the Canadian gives him a nod and a wave when the man with the sniper rifle comes into view.

"Bro, I'm with you one hundred percent. I was the King of Pranks in my group of friends." 'Was' being the operational word since he hasn't been back to his own universe in well over a year now, and the little fact that they probably all hate him now. But still, the title belongs to him and he's proud of it.

The bags of food are offered over without hesitation. Dean is free to help himself.

"Nice gun. My dad collected a shitload of hunting rifles we kept out at our Lodge. You'd have liked the range, I think."

Dean reaches into the sack without any hesitation and he pulls out a box with a small apple pie in it. He ooohs, and he opens it up. "Come to daddy." Maybe he needs a stiff reminder about what happens to those who eat random food in The Nexus.

"Now what about you? Tell me about your favorite prank that you pulled on your friends, here or back home." Dean takes a bite of the pie, and he mmms. He didn't bother to read the ingredients and he hopes there are some big giamagantic words along the list of apples.

"The gun ain't mine, I ended up borrowing it during Khan's little invasion from a big guy named, Adam. I haven't seen him around, so I'm taking good care of it like it was one of my own. Though if I don't find him soon, I might just adopt the poor thing."

Dean is incredibly lucky that Officer Suou and Ice Bear are professionals who would not taint their food with unsavory LOLs. And even if they would, neither of them has the talent to perform that kind of magic. The pastries are safe to eat, including Dean's little pocket pie with freshly baked apples inside.

"Ah...usually scaring my friends. My old man does special effects work for Hollywood bigshots in horror movies, and that's kind of become a hobby of mine, too. I spent a summer once carving dolls to look just enough like my friends to be unnerving and then rigged my sister's dollhouse to re-enact scenes from our annual parties we'd throw at the my parent's lodge up on Blackwood Mountain.

It's little shit like that that often scares folks more than a big shock and a 'boo'. Fun times."

Dean is already digging into the pocket pie with gusto. Even if it was tainted with a curse or LOL, he won't leave a delicious pocket pie to go uneaten. He makes mmm noises, and he swallows the bit of pie.

"Think you told me about your dad being doing stuff for Hollywood. I still think that is pretty bad assed. Though I got to ask if he ever worked on a Friday the 13th movie, or Hellraiser." One would think Dean wouldn't watch movies that reflect his career as a hunter. But movies were a great way to kill time as a kid while he was living motel to motel while their father was hunting, and he was stuck looking after Sam.

"But, dude, I would have killed to see the looks on the faces of your friends. And you'd think I would have done gross shit like that to my lil'bro. Guess there's only so much you can do when freaky dolls are all part of the job."

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I got an error when posting the tag and forgot to try again. >_<

Oop!

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