[IC] [Mask or Menace] Contact Post

[dendarii]

"This is Miles. Leave a message and I'll respond to you at my earliest convenience."

The line has gone silent; any messages sent to this name only return an error.

Comments

[dendarii]

[ Miles just sighs. ]

Haven't you ever been in a similar situation?

[failureisntachoice]

I've told you about what I currently have at home and you're the only other one besides that. So no, can't say that I have.

[dendarii]

... Really? That's all you've had? Church and me?

[failureisntachoice]

Personally? Yeah. Leonard wasn't Allison's first, but I couldn't exactly get those memories.

[dendarii]

And even if you had, I'd be more inclined to say they don't count.

[ That particular bit of philosophy really isn't up to him though. He shrugs. ]

You really ought to branch out, you know.

[failureisntachoice]

They'd count more than nothing.

[ But hardly the same as experiencing it herself. ]

There's one guy maybe, but he's caught up in his own pile of bullshit with our new friends.

[dendarii]

Who is it? Do I know him?

[ Genuine curiosity that. ]

[failureisntachoice]

[ She shakes her head. ]

Doubt it, unless you've run into him at the seminars. He wasn't on the sub with us. His name's Rick.

[dendarii]

... No, it's not ringing a bell.

[failureisntachoice]

He's a good guy.

[ Among other things. But she's not sure how much he really wants to hear about that and busies herself with eating to give her a good excuse to not continue that thought. ]

[dendarii]

I believe it. And I'd hope so. What's he like?

[ Still truly just curious. The intervening weeks since their breakup have done a lot to soften the edge of his hurt. ]

[failureisntachoice]

[ She eyes Miles for a moment before deciding his question is sincere. She can't help but smile as she thinks of Rick even after the man's aggressive display at the seminar not too long ago. ]

Goofy, smart, capable... Where he's from, he's been surviving through a zombie apocalypse with his kids. [ Though it's clear from her tone him being a survivor is far more attractive than the kids part. ] He's from pre-space travel Earth.

[dendarii]

[ Ah, that is still a lovely expression on her. A faint spike of jealousy - which he keeps well away from his expression - before he decides to be happy for her instead.

... Also, uh. Wait. Did she just say ... ]

Zombie apocalypse? What is that?

[failureisntachoice]

[ She gives him a weird look. ]

What, you've never heard the term before? It's when the dead start coming to live to hunt down the living. There's a lot of bullshit movies and stories about them where I'm from and around here, too.

[dendarii]

... Never seen any. Didn't even realize such things existed, much less that it was a trope.

[failureisntachoice]

They're not bad unless you live it. [ She shrugs. That type of media had lost its appeal once she realized there were people here who had to deal with it. ]

Being here is practically a vacation for him. Minus his current accommodations during this.

[dendarii]

Well, yes. I imagine so. But if the alternative is the dead rising like that ...

[ Vacation seems an understatement. ]

[failureisntachoice]

He hasn't talked much about it, but sounds like he's been living that hell for a while.

[ She reaches for their pot of coffee to refill her mug. ] If you're curious, I'd ask him.

[dendarii]

... I admit that I am. He seems an interesting sort - a good man to know.

[failureisntachoice]

He is. We've talked a few times. [ Though it's gone no further than that. ]

I don't know how good of a fit he'd be for the Dendarii if you're looking at it from that angle. Seems like he's been trying to live as normally as he can while here.

[dendarii]

[ Miles considers that, rubbing absently at the underside of his chin. ]

And thus a mercenary outfit may not appeal to him? Still ... I think I met his son during that whole Russian mess, actually. Very resourceful.

[failureisntachoice]

He's a smart kid, but don't haul him into anything without talking to his father first. [ And by the look she's giving him, it would not mean good things for Miles if he did otherwise. ]

Rick was a police officer before things went to shit for him, so you'd have to test the waters with being a mercenary.

[dendarii]

Of course, of course. I'll be careful.

[ He doesn't actually try to conscript kids, okay. Ken is a special case. ]

I suppose it will depend, then. On what he wants to do here.

[failureisntachoice]

Let me know how it goes. I'd like to see more employees on your roster if you're going to be more effective.

[ And by effective, she means more financially successful. ]

[dendarii]

We're working on that. Open recruitment after all this is done, I think.