what's up space girl [for chiron_survivor]

[super_cool]

After parting ways with Adia, the dazed cop headed towards the Shopping District to find a motel. Freddy remembers the walk as a series of sidewalks and brightly lit stores passing by in a blur, viewed through hazy tunnel vision. The next thing he recalls with any real clarity is wandering into the lobby of an old and slightly dilapidated building marked HOTEL with a flickering neon sign.

Since then, it’s been slightly reminiscent of when he first moved to LA-- only a lot weirder, and experienced from under the shadow of everything that went down with the heist and in the warehouse. He has no job, no friends, few acquaintances, and so most of his time is spent either alone in his hotel room or wandering the Nexus.

Today, he’s in his room. Adia’s contact information is on the coffee table, next to a bag with the laundered clothes that he still plans on returning to her. He keeps meaning to send her a text message, since that seems to be the preferred mode of communication, and today he actually does:

yo, adia. it’s freddy. what’s up? i have your clothes ready. text me next time you’re in the nexus, and we can meet up.

Comments

[chiron_survivor]

A reply doesn't come for a couple of hours. Hopefully Freddy has something to do while he's waiting.

Hi, Freddy. It's good to hear from you. I am in the Nexus now if you are free.

[super_cool]

Well, he doesn't just stare at the wall all day... He's got a television, and all the cultural detritus of the entire multiverse to catch up on.

yeah. wanna meet in the plaza?

[chiron_survivor]

Sure. I'll be by the fountain.

A moment later, another text follows.

I have a friend with me. One of the pets I was sitting. Is that okay?

[super_cool]

At first he pictures a dog, but then he remembers where he is. She might be talking about a dragon, or some weird little alien critter like Cr'reee. He's not one to mind either way.

of course. see you soon.

It's a short walk over to the fountain, and he shows up about fifteen minutes later. Dressed in jeans and a black hoodie, a very casual guy when not dressed up to commit a robbery. His posture and overall demeanor are also far more relaxed than the last time Adia saw him, like he's either adjusting or found a real good weed connect. It's neither, but you gotta' fake it until you make it.

[chiron_survivor]

It is, as it turns out, an eagle-like bird that stands at nearly five feet tall, sitting next to Adia on a stone bench and glaring at anyone who dares to give her a second glance.

Which means that Freddy gets his undivided attention as soon as he approaches. He grumbles suspiciously, which causes Adia, who had been staring listlessly at her PINpoint, to look up and focus her attention on Freddy.

She looks tired. Washed out. It takes her a moment to smile, as if she'd forgotten how. "Hi, Freddy." The bird grumbles again and she sighs, reaching up to smooth out his feathers. "This is Bucky. He's wary of strangers. It's okay, Bucky. Freddy is a friend. He's safe."

Bucky stops grumbling but doesn't let up on the creepy bird stare. He'll be the judge of that, Adia.

[super_cool]

“Yo,” Freddy returns her greeting, before slinking onto the bench next to Adia, not wanting to be face to face with that intense and surly-looking bird for longer than he has to, just in case Bucky decides he doesn’t really like Freddy all that much.

No doubt Bucky’s sharp eyes are following his every move though, so Freddy leans forward to meet the scrutinizing bird gaze. He slowly raises his arm, a casual wave.

“Nice meetin' you, Bucky. How’s it goin’?”

What sort of an answer is he expecting? Hopefully, one that doesn’t involve his face getting pecked at by a giant eagle.

“It’s good seeing you again,” he says to Adia, who he notices is tired and depressed. His natural response to that is to hope it’s nothing serious -- no robot attacks or anything like that -- and to try and cheer her up. Maybe tell her a funny story about what’s happened to him since being in the Nexus. Otherwise, he's been told he's a ‘good listener,’ and it's true.

[chiron_survivor]

Perched at his full height, Bucky can easily keep an eye on Freddy. Which he does. "Brave," he says, in response to Freddy's greeting. Whether that's a comment on Freddy's willingness to sit down despite being stared down by a giant bird, or his natural bird call, it's impossible to tell. But Adia's gentle preening seems to soothe him, so he'll tone down the staring. A little.

"Sorry. He saw me while he was out flying and... well, he's very protective of me." Although considering her current mood, she probably needs it. "Are you doing okay? Did you find a place to stay?"

[super_cool]

Freddy blinks. Did Bucky speak? Not sure if he heard right, he gives the bird a neutral nod and turns his attention back to Adia.

“It’s fine. I don’t mind,” he says, and truly he doesn’t. He’s sort of got an affinity with birds. “I always wanted a cockatoo myself, but I’d sleep real good knowing this guy’s got my back.”

And Adia does seem like someone who could probably use a badass bird looking out for her. The fact that he shares many of the qualities that make Adia vulnerable – naivete, taking everyone at face value – is not something he considers or has noticed.

“Yeah,” he nods in response to both her questions, “I’m good ‘til the end of the month.” Meaning that he has a place to stay, although she may wonder how that happened. He may not have an actual... job-job job type job, but see, he can take care of himself-- in case Adia had any doubt about that.

[chiron_survivor]

"Bucky looks out for me." She gently ruffles the feathers under his chin. "His owner is back, but he still keeps an eye on me. He's a good bird."

She smiles when Freddy tells her that he's found a place to stay. She looks happy for him, but one gets the impression that she'd typically be more expressive about it. Her nervous energy is gone, but not in a good way. She doesn't seem relaxed so much as dispirited. "That's good. What have you been doing otherwise? Exploring the Nexus?"

It was not doubt so much as the state she found him in that had her worrying about Freddy. He was a police officer, that implies some level of professionalism. So she believes him when he says he's okay.

[super_cool]

“I wanted a cockatoo because there was this cop on this TV show that had one. Trained it to say ‘freeze’ when someone walks in the room.” Smile. Isn’t that cool, Adia? “What happened though is that the bird got really attached to the actor, so it’d always be climbing all over him during the scenes-- his arms, his shoulders, and sometimes on top of his head. Bucky never tries to do anything like that, right, like one of those big dogs that don’t know they’re big?”

There's another slight smile at that image.

He doesn’t think of his long walks as exploring so much because they’re more about burning off energy and a small hope he’ll run into people he fucked over and got killed so that he can apologize. What’s professionalism?

“Yeah, a little,” he shrugs in response. “Mainly, I’m still just working on getting used to, you know-- things.” There’s some vague hand-flapping. Because, you know, things. “It’s going pretty all right. Anyway, what about you? What’s space like this time of year?”

[chiron_survivor]

It's a cute story, both for the image of the cockatoo using the actor as a jungle gym and Freddy's desire for a feathered friend of his own. She even manages another smile. "No, not anymore. Although when he was smaller--" she holds her hands apart the width of a beach ball, "He would perch on my shoulder. He was still a little too big for that, but it was sweet so I let him."

Looking for familiar faces, whether you're truly prepared to see them or not, is a favorite Nexus pastime. Adia would understand, if Freddy shared. Hearing how he's doing is providing enough of a distraction from her own problems, anyway.

At least until he asks about her.

"Um." Her smile wavers. "We found Earth."

And then she bursts into tears.

[super_cool]

His memories of the convenience store are mixed up and sometimes confusing. He remembers most of the conversation with Adia. She’d said she’s from space, and running from killer robots, and yes, now that she’s mentioned Earth, it’s coming back to him-- something about wanting to find it and live there?

He takes it it’s not quite what she was expecting. Shit. If he’d known, he would have kept talking about himself. He was just trying to be polite!

“Um...” Yeah, he’s good at listening to people’s problems and offering advice, but not the best at comforting them when they’re crying. He’s just a little too awkward for that, a little too afraid of saying or doing something wrong. If only he could be the old-fashioned gentlemanly sort, with a handkerchief ready and the ability to think of some fucking suave thing to say that would make her feel better. But that’s not him at all, though.

He’s not sure whether he should hug her since she hardly knows him. And he’s never really been a touchy feely type. What about just rubbing her back, or putting a comforting hand on her shoulder? What ends up happening is he just gives her her space. Don’t hate him, Bucky. He didn’t mean to make her cry.

“I’m sorry,” he says in a tiny voice, like he’s genuinely apologizing. “Do you want to talk about it?”

[chiron_survivor]

It's for the best that he doesn't try to physically comfort her. He'd have a face full of angry bird otherwise. As it is, Bucky ignores him completely in favor of chirping softly into Adia's ear and wrapping a feathery wing around her shoulders. There, there.

Thankfully, the crying jag lasts only a few seconds. "S-sorry," she stutters, furiously rubbing at her eyes. Dammit, she thought she had already gotten out all her tears. "You d-didn't know."

She should have told him that she was busy. She's not fit for company like this. She's getting ready to excuse herself when Freddy offers to listen to her troubles. Lowering her hands, she looks at him, still blinking away tears.

Well, what does she have to lose, really? The least she can do is explain why she's so upset.

"It was, um... there was no thirteenth tribe. Not anymore. They had built Cylons -- sentient robots -- of their own, and it led to a nuclear war. Nothing survived." She drops her gaze. "It happened over two thousand years ago. There was never a chance of meeting them and getting their help..."

[super_cool]

“I’m really sorry,” he says, eyes downcast. She’s not crying anymore, but she’s still a lady who is very upset, and stuck in a serious situation. When she’d first told him about the robots, he’d been unable to fully process what it was she was saying. His mind had automatically gone to corny, stupid stuff.

He’s worked on that since then.

“When did this happen?” he asks, and then clarifies: “I mean, when was it that you guys found Earth?”

He doesn’t add that it’s not surprising that they found it a fucked up shithole, given what he knows about his Earth and its likely trajectory over the next couple hundred years. That wouldn't be very comforting.

[chiron_survivor]

To be fair, Adia had seriously downplayed the severity of her situation, buoyed by the prospect of finding Earth. Now she looks the very part of a war refugee, scared and devastated. There's no hope for her people now, not unless they come up with a plan B before the Cylons catch up to them.

Freddy's sympathy gets the last of her tears under control. "A couple days ago." She sniffles and wipes at her eyes again. "It's terrible. It's like everybody's given up. My friend Maggie, she won't stop crying. She never cries." She takes a deep, shuddering breath. "I don't know what we're going to do."

[super_cool]

“Shit, that sounds pretty bad,” he murmurs quietly in response. No shit, he thinks. It definitely can't be good to find out you've been chasing a mirage for years. It’s a situation that’s way beyond him, but he feels for her. Adia’s a nice girl, she doesn’t deserve to spend her days on the run from a war that’s got nothing to do with her.

“There’s gotta’ be someone who can figure something out though, right? Maybe it’s just a matter of hanging on ‘til then?”

From anyone else, it might sound like a placating response, but Freddy's blinking at her with hopeful eyes like he genuinely believes it's a possibility. He's a follower, not a leader, and tends to look to others, even while knowing leaders aren’t always reliable or good people.

[chiron_survivor]

"Yeah. Yeah, it is." Bucky warbles something to her softly and she hides her face behind his wing, suddenly embarrassed. She shouldn't be dumping all this on someone who barely knows her, especially someone who's trying to get his bearings in the Nexus. He shouldn't have to deal with her trauma on top of that.

But then she peeks at him from behind her friend's feathers. It's the sincerity in his suggestion that eases her anxiety. She's not a leader, either. "Maybe," she agrees. "Our president is, um, kind of sick, but I know Commander Adama never gives up..." She bites her lip, then asks hesitantly, "Did you ever have to do that? Wait for someone else to... to figure out a plan?"

[super_cool]

“Kind of?” He's not sure whether she’s asking because she wonders if he can empathize or because she’s simply curious. He has no problem admitting it either way, but he also doesn’t want to say in so many words that it’s just better for everyone involved if someone else is there to take charge of things.

“I mean like with my job,” he begins, unsure if he'd mentioned to her that he was with the police, “I was always just following someone else’s orders. I don’t mean with day to day bullshit, but when stakes were high, and it actually fucking mattered. I’m not good at strategy anyway, like I’m complete fuckin’ shit at chess,” he says lightly, fidgeting with the strings from his hoodie.

“So that was always someone else’s job, while I’m better at, um... stalling and buying time when shit goes wrong or gets heated...” Which are important skills, so it's not like he was totally worthless. He wouldn't pretend to know what her situation is like, but he's reckless and has been in danger before, even aside from the one particularly violent day.

[chiron_survivor]

It's a little of both, considering that she has her attention on him now, rather than her own troubles. Gently, she brushes back Bucky's wing so she can watch Freddy's body language unobstructed. He's not like any police officer she's met before. They're usually more self-assured, take charge kind of folks. Some of that bravado must come from the uniform. Besides, who knows what kind of police work Freddy had to do. Maybe he was behind a desk all day, or writing speeding tickets.

But somehow she doubts that. You don't end up dead in a pool of your own blood because some jerk had a lead foot.

"Were you the good cop?" she asks with a small smile, before blushing faintly at her own question. "Um, I mean. Do they only do that in movies? The good cop, bad cop thing?" He has to be the good cop, if they do. How could he the bad cop with a face like that?

[super_cool]

Adia’s question makes him smile, even though thinking too much about his job leaves a sour taste in his mouth. She’s also guessed correct. No one ever called in Detective Newendyke because they wanted to scare somebody into confessing.

“Nah, they don’t do that,” he says, leaning back against the bench, and taking out his cigarettes. He holds the open pack towards Adia in case she wants one, even if she’s not usually a smoker. She’s stressed, he figures. “What they do’s bad cop, worse cop.”

And after lighting a cigarette and exhaling a thin stream of smoke, he tells her, deadpan: “I was the worse cop.”

[chiron_survivor]

The offer of a cigarette is met with a polite shake of her head and a murmured, "No, thank you." She's never had one, and she suspects that the nicotine would only make her feel worse. The anti-smoking lobby of Leonis -- if any of them managed to survive -- should give themselves a pat on the back.

"Worse cop?" That's not the answer she's expecting, and his deadpan tone leaves her confused and a little nervous. She can't tell if he's joking or not. About himself, or the interrogation techniques of his police force.

Her gaze drops to her hands, then back up to his face. "I was interrogated once. By the Cylons." She sits up straighter, out of pride or an attempt at bravery. "There was only one cop, and she tried to be both. But I didn't tell her anything."

[super_cool]

“Mhm,” he says, maintaining the ruse. “Worse cop.

Because see what I’d do is make these really bad jokes, and after enough of that shit, I’d have the worst crooks singing just to make it stop.” He sighs, shoulders slumping forward slightly. His opinion of the LAPD is rather low these days, and his opinion of himself even lower, but it was never his intention to actually try and frighten her.

He knows interrogation’s no joke, though. It couldn’t have been easier with some Battlestar Galactica robocop either, especially for someone like Adia. He blinks, genuinely impressed and a little concerned. “What happened? They let you go after you wouldn’t tell them nothing?”

[chiron_survivor]

She laughs a little in relief when she realizes that he's kidding after all, then feels bad for both doubting him and ruining his joke. She should have taken her cue from Bucky, who has decided that this guy is not a threat and is quietly preening one of his wings, the other still extended around Adia.

"Sorry, I, um. I don't know much about police work." She sees the slump in his shoulders and thinks better of asking him more questions about his former profession. Except one. "Do you think you'd like to be a cop here? There's a police force... it doesn't do much yet, but it pays a salary."

His surprise makes her smile briefly. At least until he asks her how she got out of it. "It was when we were under Occupation. My neighbor was a member of the Resistance and a suspect in a bombing. They brought me in for questioning... I didn't know anything about the bombing, but my boyfriend at the time was a member of the Resistance, and I had been keeping the Nexus a secret, too."

She shifts a little under the protective cover of Bucky's wing. "Three -- that's the model who interrogated me -- she must have sensed that I was hiding something. She pushed and pushed. Told me that withholding information was a punishable offense. I was so scared. I thought I was going to crack... then, um. Then a Five came in and got her to leave. He dismissed me from questioning."

So maybe there was a good cop in this scenario after all. Her voice has gone rather soft at the end.

[super_cool]

Bucky’s judgement is good. Freddy’s more messed up and intense than his personable demeanor suggests, but it’s not a mask either. He’d been the good cop to suspects during interrogations, and the funny guy to his colleagues because he was desperate for them to like him. Would he ever want to be a cop again here? Probably not, but it’s also not like he knows much else.

“Aren’t there no laws here?” Cops without laws don’t make any sense to him.

Maybe it’s like cops will be cops no matter where, though. Take Adia’s story, for instance. Totally different universe, thousands of years in the future, everyone’s flying around in space, and the sentient robot cops still sound exactly the same as the cops in the LAPD.

“She could probably tell you were nervous,” he suggests. Something tells him Adia’s poker face isn’t all that great. “Cops think that anyone who shows anxiety’s got something to hide. But I bet they didn’t have shit on you, so as long as you didn’t crack, they had to let you go.” The last part’s just a guess. He has no way of knowing what happened to make the other guy, the Five, call her off since cops normally like to think they’re finally getting somewhere when a suspect starts acting like they're really scared.

[chiron_survivor]

"They're aren't," she confirms. "It's Felix's pet project more than anything, but..." Freddy seemed so lost when she first met him. Even now, she can tell that he's still struggling to find his place. Maybe he was always like that, or maybe it's the shock of the Nexus, but either way, a job would give him some stability.

"I know Sheriff Rosco has plans, and he's a good cop. Honest. His deputies helped a lot of people during the Khan invasion. You could do some good here, even if it's not like being a cop back home."

She nods a little at Freddy's assessment of her interrogation. She knows better than anyone how weak her poker face is. (Or triad face, in her case, the colonial equivalent of poker.) But when he suggests that they let her go on lack of evidence, she shakes her head. "She would have tried to lock me up anyway. The Cylons had that kind of authority over us." No, she knows very well why Five let her go.

Part of the reason, anyway. Looking up at Freddy, she feels bad for not telling him the whole story. "There was a Five on my ship... a sleeper agent named Caspar. We were... close. Best friends." Maybe more, by the soft look in her eyes. "It was the same five who let me go. Even though he didn't acknowledge it."