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tamingthemuseTitle: On the run
Fandom: Original
Prompt 447 - Rhetorical question
Warnings: N/A
Rating: PG
Summary: It started with a bill of twenty on the street, and then a box entered the scene, and now they were in the middle of nowhere, ready to spend a night outside, in nature. There had been better days, really.
Note: it's all over the place and I had other ideas while I was typing it so well.
Shona looked miserably at the fire in front of her, and poked the half-consumed wood pieces with a branch.
"How have ended up in this situation?", she said in a sigh, her eyes never leaving the bright flames.
Sam stopped looking through her bag and raised her face in the contemplative stance she always took when she was thinking. She hummed and finally said : "I think things went down when we peeked into the box instead of delivering it untouched. But if you want to go back to the starting point, it's definitely that bill of twenty that is to blame."
Shona threw her an annoyed look. "I wasn't really asking."
"I know", Sam replied, resuming her search. "But if you're gonna stay there and drown in self-pity, do it quietly. I don't need you to destroy the little positivity I've left."
Shona sighed again, defeated. "You're right. I guess I'm just not as good as you at adaptating."
The other woman chuckled. "I've seen you go from professional to socialite to delicate flower in a second at that network party last month. You're a master at adaptating." It was amazing, the ease with which Shona could navigate her way through any social interaction. She came, assessed the other's expectations and wishes in a moment, and became what she needed to get what she wanted. Sam, on the other end, had only one social mode : awkward, and it rarely worked that well.
Shona smiled at the compliment, but her smile was still sad. "It's only people. People are easy. Here", and she made a vague hand gesture englobing their makeshift camp and the abandoned farm barn they were in, "it's events. It's a new world, with new rules, and I don't know them. I don't even know where to go to find them. And you are acting like we just have to live through a night without hot water."
Silence settled down between the two of them, only broken by nature's sounds and Sam's fumbling. She eventually got the can opener she was looking for out, and she moved to sit next to Shona. She opened two cans she had packed before thet left town, and handed one to her friend with a fork planted in it. The other woman looked at it suspiciously, but took it anyway and started digging in it.
"Seriously, beans?", she asked after a forkful.
"Yeah, that's what they always eat in those survival stories, you know?" Sam grinned. "Just because I'm doing something doesn't mean it's the right thing to do."
"Obviously."
They ate in silence for a few more minutes, until Sam spoke up again : "that's the trick, you know – think about it as a day without hot water. It may be a little more drastic, it may be a little longer, but it's only a passing thing. We're gonna go back to our normal lives, sooner or later. We're gonna do what it takes to go back. And one day, we'll look back at those can beans and laugh and remember why we don't eat those anymore."
"We already don't", Shona pointed out.
"You know what I mean."
"Of course, I do. How do you see us reclaiming our lives?", Shona asked, her voice a little bit more confident. "Where do we start?"
Sam finished her bean can and put it on the ground. She took a sip from a plastic bottle, before saying: "I've got this guy's address. He's some kind of mage, or warlock, I don't know, but he might be able to help us. It's not exactly nearby, but that's a place to start."
Shona raised her eyebrows. "You know a warlock?"
"Google knows a warlock, and I know Google."
"Well... it works for me. Unless we have to walk there."
"I was thinking about the bus. First one tomorrow. In the meantime, you should try to sleep."
"It's the middle of nature, Sam. No way I'm sleeping here."
Sam smiled fondly. "Try at least to close your eyes."
Twenty minutes later, Shona was snoring softly into the night.
Fandom: Original
Prompt 447 - Rhetorical question
Warnings: N/A
Rating: PG
Summary: It started with a bill of twenty on the street, and then a box entered the scene, and now they were in the middle of nowhere, ready to spend a night outside, in nature. There had been better days, really.
Note: it's all over the place and I had other ideas while I was typing it so well.
Shona looked miserably at the fire in front of her, and poked the half-consumed wood pieces with a branch.
"How have ended up in this situation?", she said in a sigh, her eyes never leaving the bright flames.
Sam stopped looking through her bag and raised her face in the contemplative stance she always took when she was thinking. She hummed and finally said : "I think things went down when we peeked into the box instead of delivering it untouched. But if you want to go back to the starting point, it's definitely that bill of twenty that is to blame."
Shona threw her an annoyed look. "I wasn't really asking."
"I know", Sam replied, resuming her search. "But if you're gonna stay there and drown in self-pity, do it quietly. I don't need you to destroy the little positivity I've left."
Shona sighed again, defeated. "You're right. I guess I'm just not as good as you at adaptating."
The other woman chuckled. "I've seen you go from professional to socialite to delicate flower in a second at that network party last month. You're a master at adaptating." It was amazing, the ease with which Shona could navigate her way through any social interaction. She came, assessed the other's expectations and wishes in a moment, and became what she needed to get what she wanted. Sam, on the other end, had only one social mode : awkward, and it rarely worked that well.
Shona smiled at the compliment, but her smile was still sad. "It's only people. People are easy. Here", and she made a vague hand gesture englobing their makeshift camp and the abandoned farm barn they were in, "it's events. It's a new world, with new rules, and I don't know them. I don't even know where to go to find them. And you are acting like we just have to live through a night without hot water."
Silence settled down between the two of them, only broken by nature's sounds and Sam's fumbling. She eventually got the can opener she was looking for out, and she moved to sit next to Shona. She opened two cans she had packed before thet left town, and handed one to her friend with a fork planted in it. The other woman looked at it suspiciously, but took it anyway and started digging in it.
"Seriously, beans?", she asked after a forkful.
"Yeah, that's what they always eat in those survival stories, you know?" Sam grinned. "Just because I'm doing something doesn't mean it's the right thing to do."
"Obviously."
They ate in silence for a few more minutes, until Sam spoke up again : "that's the trick, you know – think about it as a day without hot water. It may be a little more drastic, it may be a little longer, but it's only a passing thing. We're gonna go back to our normal lives, sooner or later. We're gonna do what it takes to go back. And one day, we'll look back at those can beans and laugh and remember why we don't eat those anymore."
"We already don't", Shona pointed out.
"You know what I mean."
"Of course, I do. How do you see us reclaiming our lives?", Shona asked, her voice a little bit more confident. "Where do we start?"
Sam finished her bean can and put it on the ground. She took a sip from a plastic bottle, before saying: "I've got this guy's address. He's some kind of mage, or warlock, I don't know, but he might be able to help us. It's not exactly nearby, but that's a place to start."
Shona raised her eyebrows. "You know a warlock?"
"Google knows a warlock, and I know Google."
"Well... it works for me. Unless we have to walk there."
"I was thinking about the bus. First one tomorrow. In the meantime, you should try to sleep."
"It's the middle of nature, Sam. No way I'm sleeping here."
Sam smiled fondly. "Try at least to close your eyes."
Twenty minutes later, Shona was snoring softly into the night.
