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Officers.
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Rylen glances over his shoulder at Papazito as he grunts and smirks lightly, ice blue irises visible over the rim of dark black shades. Shaking his head, he picks up the normal rationing, stomach audibly growling as he sits down at bench, which is about a table over from Papazito, though he doesn't look at him, he's much too interested in the freeze dried food before him.
Papazito finally gives up and shoves the tray away, then turns to the standard-issue backpack sitting next to him. After some digging, the oldster comes up with a largish block of wood and a small carving knife. The wood already shows some signs of carving on it. He immediately starts in on the wood.
Rylen's ear twitches as he hears the whittling begin. He turns to look at the man with the block then shrugs, going back to his food... quickly his hand flashes into his coat, as if trying to draw a gun, or ready some kind of defense, but manages to pull out a crushed pack of cigarettes and a lighter. He lights one and tosses the rest on the table.
Papazito blows away some of the wood shavings. They scatter in all directions, some landing on his tray. The sudden movement a table over causes his head to jerk, and when the cigarettes are produced, he shakes his head and mutters something, then goes back to the wood.
Rylen looks at the whittler and smirks with a shrug. Not an asshole gesture, but he's not in the mood for talking, not until he's finished making everything on the plate disappear...he goes back to eating, managing to chew and hold a cigarette in his mouth at the same time.
Papazito says, loudly enough to carry over and without looking up, "It's like you've never had a meal, boy. Slow down or you'll hurt something."
Rylen smirks, 'boy?' he thinks. Oh well, not a big deal, he's not about to throw rank into it, not his style, "I've been eating coyote and ass for the past 3 months, I think I deserve to inhale this. You would too, I'm sure." he says, taking time to exhale before he adds, "So you new here?"
Papazito shakes his head a bit. "It's not goin anywhere. And I suppose that'd depend on yer definition of 'new.' Seems like I been here longer'n many of the kids runnin the halls these days. I been around, oh, a quarter year. Mebbe more, mebbe less." He lowers his voice a bit. "You lose yer sense of time, here. Just blows right past ya. Cuz of all the weird crap that goes on." His eyes are still on the wood that he's steadily chipping away at.
Rylen nods, finishing his food and pushing the tray away from himself, and rests his hand on his mouth with his fingers open to hold the cigarette. "Yeah, got a lot of knew people around here, but I guess we can't help that...some people want to be heroes. Some just want to kill." he takes a deep drag of his smoke, exhaling it through his nose as he looks thoughtful a moment, but doesn't speak.
Papazito grunts. "That describes the lot of'em, I 'gree. Not that the officers are any better. You picked a bad time to show up." He nods, as if to put an exclaimation mark at the end of the last statement.
Rylen grins, 'Yeah, I heard they officers are real assholes...but I'm not one to talk behind people's backs...and I been here a bit too, just had an assignment I had to take care of, no big whoop really."
Papazito scratches at something in his tangled mass of hair before replying. "Lucky you, actually gettin an assignment. Must've been a while ago. Things're so screwed up that nobody knows what's goin on anymore." He shrugs. "I can't help but blame the officers. As a bunch, I mean. They shoulda had a plan if the Colonel got wiped. 'Course, the Colonel shouldna put 'imself in a position to get wiped in the first place." He shakes his head, apparently disgusted by the whole thing.
Rylen shakes his head; he had heard a rumor of his back at his post. "Well, it's not his fault he got whacked, really...but anyhow, you're right there should have been a back up plan. I suppose the officers were too over zealous, not wanting to think about death of a leader at the time. Then again, planning for something after your death puts things into a morbid perspective, freaks most people out."
Papazito chuckles. "True, true. But it shoulda been done, all the same." He finally glances up to look you over. "How'd you manage to get an actual assignment, then?"
Rylen turns his body, placing his cigarette in his mouth and tapping his left arm with his right fingertips, indicating the combat medic band on his arm, "Part of the job really."
Papazito "hmmms" over that for a couple seconds. "Yer needed somethin terrible around here. Glad you came back from wherever." He goes back to the wood. "The heroes'n killers've been droppin like radrats, lately."
Rylen shakes his head, "I know.... no one wants my job. It's too hard for them to deal with person after person in one day, hell it gets to me sometime too." which is true, there is a huge line of people needing treatment. Though the pills do help to deal with things. "Well, I'm back and people know where to find me," he crushes his smoke out in an ashtray and removes his sunglasses, having forgotten he had them on.
Papazito nods. "You check in with the Doc yet?" He pauses to blow away more shavings, scattering them every which way. "He's desperate for some sorta snake venom." From the tone, it's pretty clear that Zito thinks Rylen's purpose away was to find the venom.
Rylen shakes his head, "Nah, the scouts are supposed to do that..My guess they're still screwing around and not doing their jobs. I'm not a snake hunter," he crosses his arms on the table and leans forward to rest his back," But I saw the doc, he told me to take today off and get back to work tomorrow. Making the most of my off days."1
Papazito glances about the room. "Yeah, this is just about all there is to do." He shakes his head as he continues his work. "It's maddenin is what it is."
Rylen chuckles lightly, "Yeah, that's why I took up medical. I'm always busy, I don't sit and watch the ants glow." his hand extends of it's own accord and pulls another cigarette from the pack, while his other fishes the lighter from his pocket, sparking it and lighting the cigarette.
Papazito glances over. "You'd think a medic would know not to smoke them damn things. There's enough out there read to kill you without you helpin'em along."
Rylen shrugs, "My vice....helps calm me at least. Better than being a Jet junkie, hn?" he exhales the smoke from his nostrils, knowing all to well the dangers of the red, the animals, and the gay gangers from Junk town...he shudders lightly thinking about a bad run in, and takes a deeper drag of his cigarette.
Papazito grunts. "I spoze." His gnarled fingers work the wood in silence for a while, stripping away layer after layer.
Rylen yawns, shaking his head to clear it before opening his coat and patting himself down for something, a flash of metal is seen on his collar underneath, but quickly hidden from view again as Rylen pulls out a bottle of soda from the inner pocket of the coat.
Papazito mutters an "Amen" to the yawn.
Rylen smirks and takes a pull from the soda, stretching his arms and legs before replacing the cigarette in his mouth, "So what you workin on there?"
Papazito blows away some more wooden shards. "A flute." He pauses to hold the wood up in the light. "We lost a helluva lot in the war... all the arts, really. Damn shame. I like to think I'm helpin keep a little piece of it alive."
Rylen nods a moment, "Odd...I play the flute, my sister taught me when I was younger." a shadow crosses his face and he looks at the table with a glare that surprisingly doesn't make smoke rise from the metal surface. His hand moves to his neck and stays there, around something.
Papazito shoots Rylen a curious look. "Usually them type of memories are happy ones..." He trails off, not willing to pry.
Rylen looks up to Zito, and shakes his head. "They are...but she's gone, vanished.... I know she's alive though, I got this from someone," he doesn't mention it was a dog who gave it to him...a big dog...a bit, smart dog. "He told me to go north. I did, but I only found nothing but desert."
Papazito peers at Rylen's fist, and shrugs a bit. "Or was." He coughs, and then continues. "That story is too damn common out here. It jest ain't possible to find you a family that ain to find you a family that ain't been torn apart one way or another." He shakes his head a bit. "Damn shame." He then looks up and wags the wood in your direction. "And that's the kind of thing that we're supposed to be here for."
Rylen looks to him, and his gaze steels to a glare, but it quickly passes." Was, is, it doesn't matter really. Not at this point, but what's done is done, nothing I can do about it anymore." his eyes turn to the wood and he smirks, before taking another drink of his soda.
"Well, that ain't true." He sets the wood down on the table. "You jest got back for an assignment, ask fer some time off. Yer needed bad around here, but hell,you could probably leave and nobody'd really notice." He waves a hand. "Take some time and go find'er. I mean, what's more important to you? Her, or this..." he waves a hand at you vaguely
Rylen shakes his head, "Can't do it...finding someone around here is like finding a needle in a haystack...she's not here anyway, if she was anywhere in this valley, dead or alive, I would know...I've been everywhere. I even checked out Despair, almost got my ass killed doing it, but I had to make sure she wasn't there. I'm needed here, she can take care of herself, I made sure of that." he tosses his cigarette butt into the tray.
Papazito shrugs. "Your call, o'course." He goes back to whittling away at the wood.
Rylen nods, glancing out the window, "Yeah...my call..." he takes his soda bottle up, and sighs seeing as how it's empty. "My calls got me here, can't blame nothing else. Fate, karma, and all that be damned."
Papazito wags a finger in the air. "Well, there's too much that's gone on to say that there ain't no such thing as fate, or whatever you wanna call a higher power. The War, fer example, didn't just happen. There was a reason behind it." He glances up and around. "We just screwed up again is all."
Rylen laughs, shaking his head as he chuckles, "If there is a God, he must be enjoying this little soap opera." he glances to the sky and smirks, "A man in the sky...with a list of 10 things he doesn't want you to do...or you'll go to hell, and burn, and suffer for all eternity." Rylen pauses a moment, looking to Zito, "But he loves you."
Papazito chuckles. "Some of it's a hoot, I'll give you that. But sayin we're the supreme beings in the universe don't make much sense either, really."
Rylen shakes his head, "Us? Surpreme? Ha...that's a laugh," Rylen smirks and then looks to the clock, "Well, I guess I better check in and head back to the barracks...see you around, hopefully not in the infirmary," he stands up, placing his hands on the table to push up, his coat falls open again, this time revealing he rank hidden on his shoulder.
"Yeah, last thing you want is..." and trails off. He's silent for a second, reading the rank, and then chuckles. "I'll be damned." With that, he stands and salutes. "Sorry sir. Shouldn't keep that hidden, though."
Rylen laughs to himself and returns the salute lazily, "At ease, private.... and keep it hidden for a reason, I don't think I keep it hidden for a reason, I just don't think we would have talked like this if you saw the rank," he casts a glance to his shoulder then back to Zito, "Take care of yourself."
Papazito relaxes and nods. "Damn right you are, sir." He winces a bit, recalling the officer comments. "I'll do that. Keep yer gun clean."
Rylen grins and nods, "Will do...catch you later on," a wave over his shoulder and he places his glasses back on his eyes and soon is out the door and out of sight.
Papazito sits back down at the table and chuckles again. That one wasn't the bad sort, it seemed. Maybe there's a worthwhile officer or two after all...
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