Blackout, blackout!

[kore_npc]

Who: The residents of Cape Kore
Where: The center of town, near the ruined fountain
When: Day 100
What: Stane gathered some supplies for a community fire. Consider this a party-style post reacting to the lack of power and the loss of the communicators.

After the power goes out, Stane spends a few minutes standing stock still in the room, holding his breath and waiting for it to come back, but he doesn't waste too much time lingering in that kind of hopefulness. People are going to need things; they're going to need fire to cook and boil water, and they're going to need to do something about the food that's going to spoil.

It's so important that he helps them. It's so important that he helps them stay alive. Maybe the dream sharing is getting to him, maybe it's made his nightmares... feel real, but...

They're going to survive this. He's determined.

He gathers some wood that can be used for firewood and kindling, and he leaves them in the center of the town; he has no way of announcing that the things are there, really, but he cups his hands around his mouth and shouts a general Go to the fountain! Maybe someone will hear him.

Comments

[nedofpies]

[ Samandriel's misunderstanding of the joke is... odd, to Ned, but after a brief moment of surprise, he dismisses it. Clearly he's just not as funny as he thinks he is. He is more direct when he says ]

I just meant... with the power out, the perishable food is going to spoil, before too long. [ And then, because he wants to be clear, he adds ] There isn't actually any ice cream. At least, not as far as I'm aware of. Not unless Stane's holding out on us.

[ Ned shrugs, looks at Samandriel with concern, a furrow forming between his brows. ]

Are you, um. Doing okay, now? [ The last time he'd seen Samandriel he'd been in a pretty bad state. Now, that had been a while ago, but Ned knows that kind of thing can leave you off-kilter for a long time ]

[heavensmostadorable]

Oh-- Yes, of course. [He blinks a little in realization once Ned explains, figuring that he probably should have been able to grasp that. In any case, he nods a little -- food going bad is one of the reasons he's worried about this whole thing. It's less of a problem for him, but he likes the people he's met here, and since they need food...it's definitely a concern.] Hopefully it's back before too long; we don't want all the food everyone's worked so hard for to go to waste.

[Kind of a given, but at least it shows he's actually caught on? The question then draws him to a halt, just for a moment, before he smiles reassuringly.]

I am, yes. Much better, actually. I've had plenty of time to heal and regain my strength. [To prove this, there's no evidence of his previous condition left behind, not even so much as a small scar anywhere. He appreciates Ned's concern though, even if he's been better for...well, quite a while now.] I expect that might not be the case if I hadn't had as much help as I did, however. Thankfully the people here are so kind.

[nedofpies]

[ Ned doesn't say anything in response to that, but any sentence that starts with 'hopefully...' around here is a bit naive, as far as he's concerned. It's true what Samandriel says, and that people here are kind, but that's about all this place has going for it. Apart from that, Ned's only seen things go from bad to worse, and optimism seems misplaced ]

Maybe it's the captivity. You'd think it would turn it against one another, make people competitive and greedy, but it hasn't. For the most part, anyway.

[ And then, because there's nothing either of them (at least, as far as he knows) can do about the power outage, and because he's feeling strange and isolated and a bit melancholy, Ned asks, in a tone of somewhat forced cheer ]

So, uh, where are you from, Samandriel- do you go by Sam? Or uh, Andy, I suppose?

[heavensmostadorable]

[He doesn't really have much hope about the power returning, but figures keeping some outward sense of hope might keep others from getting too distressed. It's not a great method, but at the very least it seems mildly better than being completely pessimistic. In any case, he nods a little, but w ith the change of subject, Samandriel gets the idea that maybe dwelling on the power outage isn't something Ned wants to do. He understands that; humans like distractions from upsetting things, right? Obliging to talk about something else isn't something he minds doing at all, and hey, it offers the chance for him to learn more about some of the people here.]

I, ah... I've never been especially concerned with nicknames, but some have taken to calling me Alfie. ["Some" being Dean, but still. Glancing downward at himself, he taps the nametag on his shirt like that explains the reasoning behind it. Considering it is actually the reason for the name.] But you're welcome to use Sam or Andy instead, if you'd like. I ordinarily simply go by Samandriel, but I don't mind when others attribute nicknames to me.

[He smiles a little, as though to show that it really is okay for Ned to call him pretty well whatever he'd like, then focuses on the original question. Where is he from?]

I'm from--...I'm actually not certain how to explain that. I'm not sure how the world I'm from differs from yours, but, ah... It's the same place that several others here are from--Dean Winchester, for example. [Dean seems like the best example, since he seems more likely to know most people than, say, any of the other angels. It's about the best answer Samandriel can come up with, but he's quick to send some questions back at Ned, admittedly both curious about him, and the different world that he's from.] And you? Where are you from? What did you do before you were brought here?

[nedofpies]

Oh. Well, if you don't mind, I'll call you Samandriel. I think it's a really beautiful name, actually. [ Ned says this without a trace of irony, and then ducks his head, a little embarrassed. Was that a weird thing to say? Should he apologize? Or would that make it even worse, like if he hadn't thought it was creepy before, now he would? He opts not to say anything ]

Ah- right. [ Ned and Dean aren't exactly on the best of terms, but he's not about to just come out and say that: even he isn't that awkward ] So I'm assuming you knew him. Otherwise how would you know it was the same world. [ The two hadn't arrived at the same time, but it's still interesting to know, when people come from the same versions of reality. So far, he's never met anyone here who he could really pin down as being from his own world. He doesn't know why, exactly. Some people arrived in groups, some in pairs, others - like himself - solo ]

I'm from a couple little towns you wouldn't have heard of. Coeur d' Coeurs, originally. I'm - was a piemaker. Had my own shop. We'd only just started up. [ Samandriel seems fairly young to him, so he asks ] You a student?

[heavensmostadorable]

I don't mind. [Shaking his head a little, Samandriel smiles reassuringly. He's taken to allowing people to use nicknames on him, as they seem to have some sort of distaste for actually using long names to refer to others, so in a way, it's nice that someone here would rather use his full name.]

I...mostly knew of him. We only met twice before I arrived here. [Though even only knowing of him would still have made it clear they were from the same world.] He, ah... He saved me once, too. Or--he was one of those who saved me, just before I...wound up here. [Expression faltering a little here, he glances downward briefly. Even if he's physically healed from that particular event, it's still fresh in his mind and not especially pleasant to think about. Shaking his head again, this time more to clear it than anything else, he puts a small smile back up and moves on.]

Oh, that sounds nice. ...Or like it was nice, at least. [He sounds almost apologetic, even if it's not his fault that Ned's here, but he just feels bad for all the people stuck here, who had lives before this and things they may never get back to.] Student? Uhm, no, not-- not really. [Not exactly an explanatory answer, but he's taken to avoiding telling those who seem unfamiliar with non-human beings that he's an angel, unless they already know of the others here. Which, Ned doesn't seem to.]

[nedofpies]

[ Ned can put the pieces together, there. Just before he arrives means Dean had been one of the ones to save Samandriel from whatever - or more likely whoever - had left him bloody and terrified before he arrived. Grudgingly, Ned's respect for Dean increases. He's only ever encountered him in the role of aggressor, rather than someone who helps other people. But then, Ned doesn't know all that much about him. ]

It was. Haven't been able to help out all that much around here, because the food's so rationed. If the power doesn't come back, I guess I'll finally be completely useless. [ There's a touch of sadness in the way he smiles, then. Ned hates feeling useless, but if he can't bake, he thinks there's really very little he can contribute ]

[ He doesn't give a second thought to Samandriel's slight shiftiness in saying he's not a student. Ned assumes there's a story there - maybe he dropped out? - but doesn't pry, since it doesn't seem like something he's willing to talk about. Instead, he asks what he realizes has the potential to be an even touchier subject ] You have any family, back home? [ Ned knows that for some - like Riley - talking about family members is a comfort, when they are out of reach ]

[heavensmostadorable]

[The way Ned talks about himself puts a faint frown on Samandriel's face. He's not really used to negativity like that, directed at one's self, and it's just a bit strange to hear Ned consider himself more or less useless.]

I don't believe that's true. I'm sure there are plenty of things you're capable of and could make use of here. [He's not even saying it to be nice or to make Ned feel better, it's simply him being honest. He's better at that than cheering people up, anyway. A slightly furrowed brow joins the frown, and Samandriel tilts his head to the side curiously.] Aren't you part of the Farming Club? One of the leaders, even? That's far from useless.

[The question is, perhaps, a bit of a sensitive topic, but he doesn't flinch. Fidgets a touch, sure, but nothing notably uncomfortable.] Family? Yes. Plenty. [Of course, the curt way he answers gives away more than anything that things with his family weren't exactly great when he left.] Some of them are here, too. [It's almost an afterthought, a sidenote, something considered uninteresting or unimportant. Of course, he's grateful to have his brothers here, he'd be more of a wreck if they weren't, but all the question had been was did he have any. He doesn't really think to elaborate, though he did at least consider being polite in returning the question.] And you? Family, or even friends at home? Or perhaps some who were brought here as well? I'm afraid I've not met everyone yet, so I...wouldn't know.

[nedofpies]

[ Samandriel is right, of course, about Ned being one of the people in charge of the farming effort. He still feels a bit of a fraud in a position of authority - who is he to tell people what they should do, or to pretend that he knows very much about agriculture. It's difficult for him to view his own contributions objectively; he shrugs, because it would seen argumentative and rude to insist that helping to plant radishes isn't enough, that he ought to be able to really help people, really save them from here, only he can't ]

Oh. [ Ned's perceptive enough to hear how short that first reply is and realize perhaps he ought to ask about a different, less potentially-fraught topic than family. But when Samandriel says that they are here, Ned can't help but look surprised. He hadn't realized people showed up here along with family members. Sure, there are people who know one another - Charlie and Meyer, Charles and Erik, and others - but not family members, as often ]

Who? [ It might be a rude question, and he knows it, but it's going to bother him if he doesn't know, if he wanders around meeting people wondering if they might be related to him. Hell, maybe some of them are people he already knows. The question about his own family is not unexpected; that's how conversation works, and he has a reply ready. Shaking his head, he answers: ] No and no, I'm afraid. [ No one back home, and no one brought here. He cuts off Samandriel's potential pity in advance, says: ] But I've been here long enough that... there are some people here who are as good as family, to me.