《 Roman and Rebel 》<br/>Combined post from DMs<br/>Location: Abendblume<br/>Present: Roman and Rebel<a class="username" data-user-id="6997" data-username="Traveler" data-xf-init="member-tooltip" href="https://blackdahliaroleplaying.com/members/6997/">Traveler</a><br/><br/><br/><div class="bbm_float fright" style="float:right;margin:0 0 5px 10px">
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</div>Roman glanced briefly at Armando, nothing more than an acknowledgment of his presence.  The baby could be heard crying again and he shook his head.  "That's fine. Anything would be better than here," he said to the guard, glad for the opportunity to put distance between himself and the infirmary.<br/><br/><br/><div class="bbm_float fleft" style="float:left;margin:0 10px 5px 0">
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</div>"Good." Smirking, Rebel unfolded himself from the chair and stood, one hand waving a half-salute in Armando's direction as he made to leave. The sudden move to stand gave him a brief head rush but it was manageable. A moment later he was leading the redhead out of the clinic and up to the stairwell. He checked his pocket reflexively to see if he still had a key. Not that people tended to lock their doors any longer; no one had anything left that was worth stealing, anyway.<br/><br/>《 Roman 》<br/>Roman followed, hands stuffed in pockets, matching Rebel's long strides. He didn't spend much time on the common floors and occasionally glanced at the doors that people had decorated like apartments. Flower wreaths, some kids' art, and posters; seemed to have so much more life than the cold sophisticated upper levels of the resort where the Hales and their closest friends and help resided.<br/><br/>Everything was quiet; undoubtedly the result of a community-wide sensible curfew.<br/><br/>"Watch your step. Take your time. Your equilibrium is off."<br/><br/><br/>《 Rebel 》<br/><br/>Rebel took a moment to stop, lay a hand against the wall, and turn to look at his escort. He drew in a long breath through his nostrils and let it out, trying not to get irritated at the one assigned to make sure he didn't die in his sleep.<br/><br/>"Thank you," he tried to keep himself from sounding too snarky but he knew that it was a difficult task when he was so exhausted. "You wouldn't happen to have a flashlight on you, would you?"<br/><br/>The stairwell was dark aside from the tiny bit of light streaming in from the stars and moon. The last thing he needed was to trip and hit his head a third time.<br/><br/><br/>《 Roman 》<br/><br/>Roman pulled a hand from his pocket,  in it was a cell phone.  Useless for calling,  it could still be charged and used for more mundane tasks like viewing stored photos and videos as well as a flashlight.  He brushed his middle finger over the screen to form the unlock pattern and tapped a couple of folders and icons. A soft yellow light came on and he shined it ahead of them to light their path.<br/><br/>He seemed to take no offense to the edge in the man's voice.  It was something he'd grown used to in the dugout when players protested injuries that might take them out of the game. He'd growled plenty of those kinds of comments himself. At the moment he just offered the light and no further advice.<br/><br/><br/>《 Rebel 》<br/>Rebel's chest clenched. Why did a phone cause such a reaction? He wasn't sure, but as he nodded his thanks and turned to begin the ascension, he realized it was because the phone had been such a central part of Sou's life both before and after the collapse. She had been an internet social media sweetheart. Her entire sense of worth had been tied to that little device and the network it reached.<br/><br/>Now, climbing up the stairs, Rebel couldn't remember where he had seen his phone last. It must have been months since he had charged it.<br/><br/>"What kind of music do you listen to?" He didn't know why he asked such a stupid question. Perhaps it was the eeriness of the stairwell. Maybe he just needed something to distract him from thinking of Sou.<br/>September 6, 2022<br/><br/><br/>《 Roman 》<br/><br/>"80s," Roman replied without much pause. "Some grunge, alternative, and Eminem...I  heard a lot of 80s stuff growing up," he added as if he'd be ridiculed for it.<br/><br/>"You?" Music was a universal topic, at least before life had ended. Even still, he'd found that people still connected over it. There were a few musicians at Abendblume,  but with the way loud sound could attract the dead,  they weren't really having any concerts or dances. Things might be less stressful if they did,  but it was what it was. He still had his downloaded playlist and personal videos he liked to watch when he was down.<br/><br/><br/>《 Rebel 》<br/><br/>'Huh, no shit.' Rebel turned to glance at the redhead as he pushed open the door to the second floor. "I listened to that growing up too," he admitted. "Mom was a Valley Girl with a big-assed crush on Sting and Billy Idol, hence my name."<br/><br/>He held open the door for Roman to follow, then walked past a few of his neighbors' doors, many of them personalized with items to make this seem more like an apartment complex than a resort converted to permanent living quarters. His door was still slightly ajar, and Rebel paused before pushing it all the way open with two fingers.<br/><br/>Sou's things were still strewn about the small room. He could see her make-up bag still spilled over the bathroom sink, the bedcovers thrown back from when he had gotten up that morning. Yesterday...it was probably yesterday morning by now.<br/><br/>As he walked over to the coffee table and lit the stub of a candle on it, he answered Roman's question. "I like alt-rock too, a little hip-hop and lo-fi, but I've been listening to fucking K-Pop and Beyonce for the last three years. Sou only liked that crap," he said.<br/><br/>'And I was stupid enough to go along,' he thought. (edited)<br/><br/><br/>《 Roman 》<br/><br/>Roman chuckled. "Your name is Sting? Billy?" He didn't know. Billy seemed more likely, but parents could be really fucking weird sometimes. "Don't feel bad, I was stuck listening to a ton of country for a few years...Still in recovery."<br/><br/>He followed behind the man, catching a darkened glimpse of the shambles left in the room. It looked like people had just up and run like a fire had broken out. His face soured again. His dad was such a dick. But if this guy was still on the work list, why did the room look like it did?<br/><br/>"You got someone else living here?" he asked passively as Rebel lit a candle and more of the room came into view.<br/><br/><br/>《  Rebel 》<br/><br/>Rebel chuckled. "No...not that bad," he said. "Rebel. Rebel Sumner Akers. Sumner's Sting's real last name, Rebel's from Rebel Yell." He plopped himself on the couch and propped his heels on the coffee table, arms laid across the back of the couch as he watched Roman.<br/><br/>"My ex," he glanced around; a sour look on his face. "She's gone now. Hale said she took off with someone from another group." He waved a hand dismissively. "All her shit's gotta go."<br/><br/><br/>《 Roman》<br/><br/>"Sounds like your mom was kind of wild," he meant that in the best of ways.<br/><br/>He shot a curious glance over to the other for a brief moment. He'd only been in the know of his dad's plans to the extent that they were happening and why. He knew there had been some weird fallout,  but after the initial announcement,  he'd distanced himself from it and all the rumors that followed. Still, he hadn't heard of any other group unless he meant one of the small groups they had some occasional contact with.<br/><br/>"Yeah, I'd say that shit has to go." he agreed conversationally.<br/><br/><br/>《 Rebel 》<br/><br/>"Yeah," Rebel echoed back. He pointed to a dresser near Roman's left. "There's a bottle in that top drawer. Bring it over, will ya?"<br/><br/>Nudging a few items off the table with his heel he cleared a spot. "My Mom was bad-assed, in-your-face kind of a hippy. She was completely off-grid before this shit went down. Hell, she might not even realize that anything changed, aside from the fact that planes don't fly over anymore."<br/><br/>In the top drawer was a bottle of bootlegged vodka and a smaller one of tequila. Rebel wanted to drown his thoughts for a few hours, maybe more, and with someone assigned to watch over him, this seemed like the perfect opportunity.<br/><br/><br/>《 Roman 》<br/><br/>Roman contrasted the image of Rebel's mother with the one of his own and there were so many differences. He briefly wondered what growing up like that might have been like but as he saw the contents of the drawer his thoughts immediately shifted.<br/><br/>"Nope." he closed the drawer again. "You really don't know shit about concussions, do you. You lay down, you rest, I make sure to wake you up every few hours so your brain doesn't choke itself off with swelling. No drinking."<br/><br/><br/>《 Rebel 》<br/>Hearing the drawer slide shut faster than it was opened, and the "Nope" from Roman caused Rebel to scrunch his brows together and glare. "Come on, Bud. What's one drink going to do? You're here, right? Besides, that Rebecca woman gave me some painkillers and it's been at least twelve hours."<br/><br/>He wasn't going to get much assistance, though - he could tell this guy wasn't the sympathetic type. "Fuck. Fine. Whatever." He pushed himself up off the couch and started to walk towards the bathroom, stripping off pieces of clothing as he went.<br/><br/>The squeak of the faucet sounded, and a jet of cold water came from the spray head. He'd gotten used to cold showers after their power was diverted to more critical things. "I'm going to wash off. Make yourself at home, take whatever you want for your girlfriend, or friendsss," he emphasized the 'es.' He laid his gun on the sink and pulled off the rest of his clothing, uncaring of the open door or Roman's presence.<br/><br/><br/>《 Roman 》<br/><br/>Roman picked up this and that as he wandered aimlessly around the room as Rebel showered. "Hey, it's up to you. Like I said, I could go and leave you to your potential coma, but it seems like you just recently became a free agent, so why spoil that opportunity with an untimely death?"<br/><br/>Going back to his room was becoming less appealing as he realized that if he wasn't in the infirmary, and not in his room, he'd be left alone. He could hang in this guy's room. He seemed pretty ok as seemed none-the-wiser that he was an evil Hale.<br/><br/><br/>《 Rebel 》<br/>"What, and give Hale a reason to add me to the next list?" Rebel hollered from the shower. "I can just see the reason jotted beside my name now; Rebel didn't follow Red's direction and almost died of a coma." He turned off the water and grabbed a towel.<br/><br/>"No, I'm not going to give him a reason to kick me out." Not yet, of course. He toweled off his hair and body, then picked up his discarded clothing as he made his way to the bedroom. "As far as dating, I don't know, man. It seems like caring too much for a particular person puts you in danger, you know?"<br/><br/>He pulled on some sweats and then went back for the gun, then set it next to the bed. "I'm only glad that Hale realized I had no clue what Sou was up to. Otherwise, I'd still be out there."<br/><br/><br/>《 Roman 》<br/>Red. Roman chuckled to himself at that. He got called that a lot by his teammates and it conjured up good feelings. "He seems pretty stuck on the old-timer nuclear family ideal..." Roman replied without hinting at the true depth of his knowledge of that topic.<br/><br/>"I can only imagine that in his mind, anyone left who is single, shouldn't be." he snorted. He'd escaped that scrutiny so far, but after everything that had happened, he could imagine a dinner conversation that ended with some kind of call out to him and Ray needing to think about settling down.<br/><br/><br/>《 Rebel 》<br/><br/>"Well, shit." As Rebel talked he walked around the room, picking up items that were obviously trash or not donatable and shoving them into a bag. "I guess that explains why Kennedy was sent away." He rolled his tongue across the front of his teeth.<br/><br/>"Why not just tell them all to hook up or get out? I mean, if he's forming some kind of breeding, restock-the-world-thing, why not give them a chance?"<br/><br/><br/>《 Roman 》<br/><br/>Roman shrugged. He had no idea if his dad had even thought out the next step.<br/><br/>"Kennedy..." the only reason the name stuck out in his head was because it was Kennedy. "...He was that guy with all the big plans for Abendblume wasn't he. He probably would have been kept around if he wasn't so..."<br/><br/>Roman wasn't particularly prejudiced, but his dad had strong and definite views on the subject and those had been present enough in his upbringing.<br/><br/>"...gay. Not even the slightest bit shy about it gay.  Not sure if I would have made him my first draft pick for leaving. And Carla left right after everyone was kicked out, so there goes the farm plan." he shrugged.<br/><br/>"You really can't just lay the hell down and rest, can you," he smirked with a shake of his head.<br/><br/><br/>《 Rebel 》<br/><br/>"Yeah, that's him." Rebel paused in his cleaning, looked at the as-yet-unnamed ginger, and wondered if everyone knew Kennedy but himself. It seemed the tattooed man with the wild punch was somewhat beloved. If only he wasn't so gay.<br/><br/>"Surely there are others who know how to run a plow behind a horse and take care of seedlings?" His mother would have loved people like Carla and Kennedy. Hard-core hippy was a kind description of his mother. She was as wild as all get-go, and Rebel grew up on raw milk and kefir cheese. His kind of rebellion was to go all law-and-order.<br/><br/>He sighed, looked at the bag in his hands, and nodded. "You're right," he said, dropping the bag. "I need to sleep." He shuffled off to bed, pulling the covers back and dropping himself unceremoniously on the pillow. "Make yourself at home," he murmured, and a few breaths later he was deeply asleep.<br/><br/><br/>《 Roman 》<br/><br/>Roman shrugged. "Do you? I mean, you're the one with the wilderness mom," It was a reasonable question, but Rebel had taken his last comment to heart and was finally making moves to settle in. The question wasn't really important and Roman acquiesced to letting the man finally get some rest as he parked himself on the couch. That was the last thing he remembered before the morning sun crept in to stir him awake. The first thing to go through his mind was,<i>Where am I?; </i>the second was,<i>Oh, shit!</i><br/><br/>He jumped up and bound to the bedside, giving Rebel a hard shake.<br/><br/>"Hey, hey dude, wake up. Do<i>not</i>be in a coma or dead...."