Orion Carnell

Happy to have the light on - and that it held - Walid wrapped himself in hope for a moment, decided that this was perfect. They’d be able to scare whatever was there away.

That was until they turned to face that which the ‘whatever’ was. And felt dread rush to their heart. Oh. They stood frozen to their spot as they watched the creature, whatever it was. Their mind tried to describe it, but they felt like they couldn’t really grasp its meaning. A monster, that was certain, but what kind…

They were hopelessly fucked.

Though as soon as Orion spoke, Walid’s feet finally listened, and they sped out of the door, tears running down their face, worried they might get buried underneath the rumble. Goodbye generator, that one certainly wouldn’t survive this.

They tripped over their own feet in the hallway, the light was less vibrant in the hallway, and they felt suddenly unable to remember the way back. However, in the light, they could see that the tendrils weren’t just in the other room.

#with: walid #pn: walid002 #god poor Walid is not having a good time #if Orion grabbing Walid is too godmoddy lmk and I will change it!!

Inspite of the horrific thing that had just started chasing them down, Orion felt calm. His heart beat steady in his chest as he watched Walid turn heel and start running, barely escaping the tendril reaching out to grab him. As soon as the other person bolted, Orion followed suit. He'd been in enough situations like this to keep his cool - running for your life wasn't too uncommon among the raiders. He remembered the situation on the ship, or the lake monster all too well. It was good that he remained calm, because he could figure that Walid didn't.

Orion managed to follow after them, deliberately staying behind them in the narrow hallway. The dim light revealed a network of fleshy tentacles all across the ceiling. Breaking out from the ceiling and raining down plaster on them. "Keep going. I'm right behind you." Orion said, voice strained with the effort of running. Suddenly, something wrapped around his arm and tightened, yanking him back. For one moment, Orion was trapped, pulled backwards towards the writhing mess of vines, then he managed to shrug off his jacket and writhe out of that grip.

"Keep going." Orion ordered, before reaching out and grabbing Walid by the scruff of their jacket, yanking them back just in time as another tentacle broke out of the wall in front of them and blocked their path. Pulling Walid against himself, Orion slipped the knife out of his belt and slashed out. It didn't cut through the entire thing, but it was enough - the tentacle writhed, spraying both of them with viscous black blood before retreating into the wall. Orion didn't wait for it to come back, instead pushing Walid forward. "To your left. Up the staircase."

The static emanating from Frank was palpable. It made the hair rise on Emre's arms, the back of his neck. That feeling like you were getting ready to throwdown, on the brink and hard to tamp down once it reached maximum limits. Conversely, Melody's reactiveness ended up in making the air more chilly, cold enough for Emre to exhale gusts of white. The blend - high static and cold - felt like a mini-stormfront gathering within the warehouse.

"THEY'RE DEEEEAAAAD!" Melody exploded, finally losing her temper for good. She wriggled and sneered at Frank. "If you see them down in Hell, give them a good -" she slapped her elbow, fingers shoving up in a 'v', a clear insult - "Fuck you from me! You bastard!"

"Calm, luv, is alright," Emre murmured. Melody's temper always provided a good ballast for Emre to keep himself afloat. Girls were supposed to be emotional, this was okay. Boys had to remain calm.

But with the mini-storm between the two ghosts, Emre got nervous. Things on the shelves started rattling, windows shuddering. Emre didn't want any destruction in Tomas' warehouse.

"Sure you want to move this to your home, bruv?" Emre asked Orion, at the offer of bottles. The way Orion so easily believed it was jinn, was oddly comforting to Emre, though. No doubt, just 'okay', even if Orion wasn't strictly a believer. "We should get them out of here regardless, yeah. Don't want Tomas having our arses for ruining his stock."

Emre nodded his chin at Frank, asking Orion, "Reckon you can persuade dear old dad to listen to you?"

#Girls were supposed to be emotional #boys were supposed to be calm #with: emre #p: emre002 #Oh Emre #is that his way of dealing with seeing his dead girlfriend

As opposed to Melody's outburst, Frank remained calm, only the static prickling in the air and the sneer on his lips showing his agitation. "Do you think you can speak to me like that, girl? You can tell them that yourself. I'm not your messenger." Frank scoffed in response. His body was rigid, pushed up to it's full height as he floated in front of melody, his eyes flickering with the onset of violence. "I'm not your wimp of a boyfriend, child."

With the way the warehouse rattled around them, Orion was sure the windows would blow out if the situation got any worse. Emre had a point. With the way Frank and Melody were fighting, they might cause some destruction in his house. But the thought of wandering around the Island with Frank in tow, until the ghosts disappeared, if they would disappear, unsettled him. And he knew for certain he had bottles. "I can try. Can you keep Melody calm?" Orion asked in turn, casting a glance at the transparent woman, who looked furious, before he turned his attention to his dad.

"Dad." Orion said, his voice stoic and calm as always, even as his father turned his piercing gaze onto him. "We are going to go back to my house." He never had managed to sound as commanding as his father did - that kind of rigidness, the confidence that if you ordered something, it would be done. For a moment, Orion thought Frank would reprimand him, the way his jaw muscles tightened and his eyes narrowed. But then, he relented, casting only a short glance at Melody, letting his gaze liger on Emre for a second before returning to his son's side.

Orion nodded to Emre. His house was a bit further away, a small cottage at near the Industrial Park, somewhat isolated but still close enough to the Medcenter and Flower Tower. "Let's go."

jossie-the-thief

@oricarnell

Jossie licked his lips when Orion appeared from out of nowhere, the teleporter having zapped him to the exact spot where the Arubain had appeared before. He smiled charmingly as he threw Orion the bag filled with perhaps necessary things for their journey into the small community that had settled in an old German castle. “How is your German?” he asked, as he hoisted his own bag over his shoulder and set off in the direction of the castle. It was nicely visible over the stretch of black forest. “Not that I think we’ll need it, but it might come in handy to win over the locals.” He hadn’t told Orion yet that this might end up being a heist, not that he might at any other point. It could still work out.

#with: jossie #pn: jossie001 #thank you for the starter #and your patience #me a german #excited they're going to Germany

"I know a bit. It should be enough to get around." Orion responded, managing to catch the bag thrown at him. His German wasn't perfect or great by any means, but he had managed to snatch up bits and pieces from his trips to Hamburg, where he had some contacts to survivor groups having settled there. But Hamburg was quite a bit off from the Baden-Wurtembergian countryside they had appeared in.

"Mind filling me on the details of this again?" Orion asked as they truged along the footpath towards the castle nestled on top of the hill. Trees surounded them on all sides, pressing in as they walked along. Other than his hunting knife Orion hadn't brought any weapons, but he hoped whatever they would get wouldn't require a fight. "I would like to be prepared for anything that might happen."

"You can watch it for me, old man," Emre replied, his tone purposely blasé. Why give this Frank the satisfaction of a wound-up Emre, because Emre knew dad's voice well. Either police or military, Emre guessed; Orion's father had likely seen the worst of humanity and had made a choice. A choice he then took home to his family, because it likely felt so good.

The way Orion's spine straightened like steel; and now this ghost trying to do the same to him. After three bloody years of reinventing himself on Panopticon to not respond, Emre wouldn't allow it.

"I'm his girlfriend, yeah," Melody said, before Emre could. To Frank, she chucked her chin at him. "Oi, gramps. So what's your type then? I figured you'd enjoy a spot of spanking the naughty girl innit. Bit of disciplinary action, that get your bellend ringing? If you got fifty quid on you, I could make that happen."

Emre pressed his lips together to suppress the fond smile at Melody. The girl knew how to bring it. He looked up at Orion instead, speaking with a new softness at the huge man. "Honestly mate, I was trying to find a bottle to shove her in, give me some bloody peace." Emre offered a smile; had Orion ever smiled? Certainly not now. "I know people says they're ghosts, but I think they're jinn, yeah. Erm, like genies. You can trap them in bottles and that. Lamp, if you go by the story."

He leaned in closer. "Shall we look for two bottles, yeah?"

#with: emre #p: emre002 #thank you for being patient!!#I love Melody so much #Emre is so kind right now

Orion was almost glad when Melody continued talking, because it took his father' attention away from him, back onto Melody. He could practically feel the static tension, some form of indignation ripple through Frank's incorperal form. "Watch your mouth, girl. Whoring yourself out even as a ghost? I figured that the end of the world might have caused some to loose all dignity." He stared at her with a sense of disgust. "Do you think your parents would be proud of that?"

Melody seemed to be able to keep Frank's attention on her and for a second, Orion wondered whether he should intervene. Ghosts couldn't touch them, but what if they could touch other ghosts? Melody however, had so far seemed thoroughly unbothered by Frank's judgement of her, and so Orion decided to focus his attention on Emre.

"Jinn? I suppose that could be a possibility, then." Orion nodded after hearing Emre's explanation. Nobody knew what they were. Ghosts seemed like the most common conclusion, one that Orion was familiar with. But maybe they were Jinns. The other man's conspirational whisper made Orion perk up.

"...Yes. If they are jinns, it could be worth a try. I-" Orion stopped himself. He could feel his father glancing at him. His lips were pressed into a thin line, his expression unreadable almost - had he heard? But if he had, he didn't talk about it. Instead turning his attention back to Melody. "Where do we start? Would the bottle have to be a specific size? I have bottles at my house."

Walid did as requested; gladly as well. They almost completely glued themself to Orion’s back, but still kept enough distance for the other to spin around if necessary. Meanwhile the thoughts tended to grapple at his brain, convincing him that he was in danger. He was not in danger. They gritted their teeth together.

The fact that they made it to the maintenance room without running into monsters got them hopeful, and soon as the order was uttered, Walid said to work. That was the only thing they could really do: work.

And they quickly set to it, not surprised by the state of the generator. It wasn’t working, but it could, with some cleaning and a way to jump start it. They looked in their bag to find anything that could work though perhaps not for this type of generator, when they heard Orion mutter, turning quickly.

“What did you find?” they asked, their voice small and helpless. At the same time, they decided they should turn on the generator, because they needed light, light to see more than the darkness and the little illumination that the flashlight showed. So he set to it quickly, managing to create enough of an electric charge for the generator to start off, perhaps on its last legs: using residue that it still had hidden somewhere, perhaps someone had been here before them planning on using it.

But the room lit off.

#with: walid #pn: walid002 #sorry it took so long #I am now hopefully back in full #feel free to add onto what they found and do what you want with it xD I don't have a specific plan

The overhead fluorescent lights flickered back to life, lighting them up and flickering back off a few times before finally properly starting to hum. Orion stood there, blinking at- well, whatever it was. In his time raiding, Orion was sure he'd never seen anything quite like it. Then again, that was a somewhat frequent occurrence, ever since the world ended. But this seemed strange in a different way. A pink, fleshy mass firmly was lodged inside the half-open fuse box. It didn't look like anything living Orion had ever seen, no anthropromorphic features, nothing recognizable. Still, it was oulsating, as if there was a heart inside of it beating in a steady rhythm. Thick, similarly colored tendrils snaked alongside the walls, disappearing into cracked away mortar, holes in the wall and ceiling, pipes, anything that provided an opening. As if it had dug to get into the insides of the building.

Over the course of his life, Orion had developed a keen sense for when danger was closing in.And right now, there was that distinct prickle at the back of his neck that told him that something was absolutely, immediately off. He stepped back just in time to avoid one of the tendrils snapping around his ankle. The mass shivered, as if it'd been brought back to life, awoken from hibernation by the light flooding in.

"Run." Orion ordered Walid, his voice calm but authoratuve as the room began moving around them, trickles of stone and mortar raining down as the trendrils moved, starting towards them with a slow but steadily increasing speed. Whatever this was, being caught likely wouldn't end well.

Orion had a colourless tone normally - no peaks and valleys, no drawls or stresses. Every word delivered exactly as the last (except when Orion got exasperated. Emre had heard plenty of that too).

But this was different. Orion's clipped reply made Emre nearly shoot to attention himself; but years of experience rolled his straightened spine more casually. Orion had his own ghost (or jinn) and it was an old bloke with a scowl that Emre was used to. The horrid words so familiar, it was almost comforting to hear them again. Like hostility made the world feel more normal to Emre.

Emre smirked. He'd play it up, because there was no changing a dead man's mind anyway.

"I'm not bad," he echoed Orion with a mocking tone. But a glance up at Orion and Emre gave him a cheeky wink. Poor big bugger would likely not understand the inclusive wink, but worth doing. "This your old man, mate? Apple fell miles from the tree, innit."

Emre jutted his chin at the grey-haired ghost. "Trained him, instincts, wot. What's our Orion supposed to do then, shoot on sight? Prick."

He could feel Melody flickering beside him, her static making Emre's hair rise on his arms. But her anger vapourised in lieu of new entertainment. "I can introduce myself, sweetheart - I'm Melody, Emmy's girl. And you...you're proper gorgeous innit. Built like a skyscraper! Emmy's got the prettiest mates, bloody hell. American boy, you and gramps ever had a lady dance up on you? Two for one," Melody stuck her tongue out, lowered her oversized hoodie off her shoulder to expose a bit of her tiny tanktop underneath, and she shimmied. "I'd make it worth your while. Ghost tiddies is still tiddies innit."

Emre huffed, amused. "There's my girl."

#with: emre #p: emre002 #god I'm still giggling at this hehehe #I love Emre and Melody so much #I apologize for his dad #sorry it took so long!!#Muse is troubling me

Orion's could practically feel his father bristle up at that comment. Years of hard work on the farm, the ever so slight slouch of age straightening out almost immediately as Frank Carnell rose up to his full and proper height in front of Emre. The hair on Orion's neck stood up, both from the electricity he could feel prickling from his father's form, and his own, deeply-ingrained instincts telling him that the situation meant danger.

"Watch your tone, boy." Frank's voice wasn't particularly loud or booming, but it was commanding. Years of military service bundled together in a low, slightly raspy intonation that made Orion straighten himself out immediately, even though his father was currently staring Emre down. Ghosts couldn't be touched. And they couldn't touch anyone. A bit of solace that his father couldn't actually fight. Then again, if he had been able to, he might have exercised more caution in strange territory.

Before Frank could turn around, Emre's ghost spoke up. Melody. His girlfriend. Orion glanced over at Emre carefully, though the other man was clearly just enjoying the situation. "No, I haven't-" Orion's brows furrowed, but he was cut off by his father, who was looking at Melody with a cold, considering glare, before turning to fix on his son. "So this is the kind of company you keep now, son?" There was something under that commanding tone that Orion had found himself on the other end of often enough. Disappointment, along with the quiet, but implicit order to fix whatever had gone wrong. That simple expectation, always there, back on the farm.

The raider's gaze wandered towards Emre, who seemed to be amused, then to his ghost before finally settling back on Emre. Orion's demeanor was as quiet and unaffected, his face set in a mask of neutrality as he spoke. "This is my father, Frank Carnell." Emre had already extracted that from the context, but repeating it seemed to give Orion a start, a thread he could follow. "And Melody is your girlfriend, right?" There was a story there, too. He tilts his head, aware of his father's gaze, the way his ghost floats back just a bit as his son ignores the question.

"Why are you out here with her? Are you trying to be alone, too?"

Walid tried to calm his beating heart. Just pipes. Orion didn’t seem worried, so why should he? Well, because he’d only been outside of the island a handful of times, and it was not something they planned to make a regular activity off. They bit their teeth together, their eyes still wide, waiting to find any strange sound, waiting for any hint of danger. Knowing it would come. “Alright,” they said, very unconvincing.

They blinked, looking back at Orion and his offer, trying to discern whether they would choose pride over safety. When had they ever done that? They looked back around, not daring to shine the flashlight into any of the corners, afraid of finding monsters. “Yes, yes probably,” they said, through gritted teeth and almost like a whisper. They got up, the flashlight still pushed to their chest, shining over their shoulder at the ceiling. They regarded Orion with their wide-eyed stare. “I will… follow you.” Have your back? Small chance, at any sign of danger, Walid figured their Flight-response was going to win it from their Fight-response. Surely they wouldn’t get themselves in such a situation.

The pipes made a sound again behind them, and Walid visibly jumped. “Fast fast fast,” they muttered.

#with: walid #pn: walid002 #Orion wants to keep him safe :)#time to bring in the creepy shit though

Orion's calm silence contrasted Walid's nervous, skittish fidgeting as he quietly watched Walid jumping and hastily muttering under his breath. This could prove to be a challenge. "Stay calm and stay close to me. As long as you are near me, I can protect you. Alright?" Orion tried to reassure them, before he turned around to face the darkness of the building, towards a dark, long corridor that likely lead to the maintenance room.

The dank, musty smelling walls, the cracked bricks and the dust that flickered in the light of their flashlight reminded Orion of his recent trip with Emre. Retrieving the crown jewels from the bowels of a stormy ghost ship drifting aimlessly on the ocean hadn't gone as planned. The darkness around them back then had been similarly absolute, only pierced by the cold white light of their fleshlight. Except that Emre had been more seasoned, quickly reacting when the fleshlight had turned into darkness and the shadows had started moving for them. Orion cast a glance back at Walid. He hoped they wouldn't go running around like a headless chicken if something like that happened. Orion might not be able to protect them if that were the case. Not that the raider could blame him for his nerves.

But they reached the maintenance room without incident. The door creaked loudly with years of disuse as Orion forced it open almost easily, shining his fleshlight inside before stepping in. A fuse box, a rather sizeable generator and several barrels of fuel were strewn about the room. So far, everything looked safe. "Can you check out the generator and see if it's working? I'll grab the fuel." Orion ordered, making his way over to one of the barrels when his eyes fell onto something. The fuse box was half-open. And something was inside of it. Flesh. Pulsing, spilling out around the edges, pinkish, light-skin colored tentacles snaking alongside the metal down to the wall, burrowing into it.

"That's unexpected." Orion muttered, staring at the throbbing mass.

alexpanganiban

There was a scant flicker of something when Tomas asked his question, but he chose not to chase that down right at the moment because he wanted to hear Orion's response to what had literally been asked, rather than the younger man's own ghosts and shadows. "You don't? It sounds pretty uncharitable. I had many, many nosy well-wishers and indifferent-wishers tell me that I shouldn't let Libby take up any more of my energy, or room in my head, or be preoccupied with her that way. One of her friends said I was trying to psychically harm her with my negative energy."

Tomas snickered at that one. "The result of having so many friends who took every drug they were handed in our youth." He was ready to move on, interpreting Orion's response as a pat, deliberately agreeable answer: pacify the customer, move the conversation out of the personal and back into the commercial.

But then Orion kept talking. And what he had to say made Tomas tune in completely, revisiting the flash of more subterranean thought that had crossed Orion's face earlier. "Were they your people?" he asked, blunt and pressing, his brow beetled over an unwavering stare. "The ones who hurt you. Was it your family, Orion?"

He pushed in closer, unconcerned about the stark height difference between them. "Yes, she hurt me," Tomas answered, getting that out of the way with something almost like impatience. Now that there was much richer bone to gnaw on, and Tomas could be like a dog with one, when his interest was piqued. "Libby was my wife and at one point I loved her more than I thought I was even capable of feeling love, and now I hope she's dead." He enunciated that sharply, snapping his teeth on the words. "I didn't say I wished her gone, I said I wished her dead. Do you wish your family dead?"

#with: tomas #pn: tomas001

Tomas perked up like a bloodhound finding a trail. It made the hairs on Orion's neck bristle up, the way Tomas' gaze suddenly shifted from mostly cordial to sharply piercing as he pushed up close to Orion. The raider forced himself to swallow down the sense of discomfort prickling at his chest and stay still, hold his ground, even though the instinctive urge of backing up tugged at him. His voice was hesitant when he spoke, hesitant to open up too much. "It was... yes, it was my family."

He didn't like it. He never did, when people pushed about his past. Know your weak spots. Advice echoing in his mind sharply now, advice that had served Orion well. And his past was a weak spot. One that he had revealed a sliver off when Tomas had bared himself, and now Tomas sunk his teeth into it, right down into the bone. And now I hope she's dead. Something about that vibrated down to Orion's core, made his ribs feel like they were thrumming with the rhythm of his heart beating against them. He swallowed, tried to, his adam's apple moving with the strain of it as he met the cold fire in the other man's gaze.

"Yes. I... I want them dead. Sometimes. Not always. It's-" He broke off, his voice raspy and strained as he spoke as if he hadn't used it in days. He was moving into more unchartered territory again. It was one thing to ask others about what had happened to them, bare little slivers of himself he was willing to divulge. But this was private. Much more intimate, feelings seated at his very core. But Tomas had opened himself too, hadn't he? A trade, an emotional one, but a trade, a language he understood.

"I don't think it's horrible. Wanting her dead. If she hurt you. Because you were hurt and you don't deserve that." Orion met the other man's gaze, having to tilt his head down. "I'm sorry. That she hurt you. To the point that you hope she's dead. I... I can look out for her. If you want me to. Out there."

Location: Cleaning station in the Industrial Park @oricarnell

"You honestly think you can bottle me up? Are you serious?" Melody asked in disbelief. But she didn't see what Emre was seeing. When Melody first appeared, she'd been floaty, glowy almost. As the days went by and she couldn't leave, she became more...real. More tangible. At one point, Emre touched her and she almost felt real. It terrified him.

He believed these were jinn, and they were gaining bodies.

Emre had read or heard something once, he couldn't remember from where or whom - but bottling jinn was a way to trap them. So he was at the industrial park, where shelves of empty and clean containers lined the walls, searching for something suitable for his ex-girlfriend.

"Shut up, I'm doing you a favour."

"You're trapping me! You're imprisoning me, you bastard! I should've known -" Melody paused, looked up. "Someone's coming. Another one of your mates? Bloody hell, never known Emre Akbar to have so many bloody -"

Emre looked up - and up some more, because a tree of a man was getting closer. He smiled though, relieved at the sight of Orion's ever-perplexed little frown on his angular face. "Alright, Orion? What're you doing out here?"

"I am trying to be alone." Orion glanced at Emre with an unreadable expression, barely acknowledging as the ghost beside him piped up. "Who's this? A friend?" An old man was staring at Emre with furrowed brows as if seizing him up, seemingly judging him from behind cold, grey eyes. The ghost stepped away from Orion's side to slowly make his way up to Emre, his gaunt but imposing frame towering over the other man as he took him under scrutiny. "Are you sure he's trustworthy?"

"He is a friend. I trust him." Orion shot the old man the same, unreadable glance, his voice sounding a little hoarse as he spoke. He'd frozen entirely when he had woken up to find the familiar yet strange, translucent figure slumped against a shelf across the room. Watching him, quietly and intently. Older, more gaunt and hollow, but still the same. Orion would have recognized him anywhere just by that scent of earth and spices alone that still clung to him, now mixed with a ghostly hint of morning dew. The ghost scoffed, taking a step back. "I see. Son, I trained you better than that. They aren't good company. Just look at them. Where are your instincts? Don't tell me you lost them."

"I didn't. Emre is not bad. I don't know about his ghost." After more than twenty years of being apart, it was hard to get used to the jabbing comments of Frank Carnell. Even if Emre was the target of them. Orion's gaze turned a little more sharp, his jaw muscles clenching as he focused on Emre, and the ghost of a young woman beside him. Her voice, and more prominently her complaining, had echoed over to the raider before he'd even arrived. "Who is your ghost? I heard you. You are trying to trap her." He tilted his head, trying to ignore his father's inquisitive gaze. "Why?"

#with: emre #p: emre002

starter for: @nickambrose

location: Versailles (the one in Kentucky)

"It should be around here." Orion cast a glance around, taking in his surroundings as he lead Nick through the little piece of forest towards the building already visible through the treeline. Why the Woodford Reserve Distillery was so far outside of town, seperated from the rest, Orion didn't know. He had paid enough credits to get them relatively close, but they'd still landed just a bit off, in the woods surrounding them.

"This should just be a quick run. Anything specific you are going for?" Orion asked, casting a glance back at the other man to make sure that Nick was they following as they stepped onto the grass surrounding the Distillery. The building was a little overgrown, clearly abandoned, but otherwise in good condition. What they were looking for was generally obvious- whiskey. "I should be able to take one or two of the barrels back. It should be aged well enough by now."

Orion took a step towards the building. "Do you use the teleports on your own frequently? I believe we have not made a run together."

nickambrose

This was starting to feel like a bad idea, not just because he was traipsing after Orion through what appeared to be a creepy-ass forest. But because he was coming to realise at the end of it he couldn’t just skulk off and let Orion do the heavy lifting. “Really just anything at this point sweetie! We’ve burned through so much tonight and I can’t be dipping into the wedding-booze.” That had all been specifically curated and was top shelf stuff. It was not for the masses. “Incredible, if we jump around in time is this just like an infinite pool of whiskey? Or you coming out here and brewing it yourself Orion.” Nick smirked, crossing the threshold with just a casual glance over at Orion behind.

“Yes but for my own personal use.” He usually had the likes of Orion, Kaz and others do the grunt work of finding booze, and picking up a few little cheeky extras. They were his suppliers, why should he be getting involved? Nick didn’t want to waste credits on something as mundane as that when they were hard to come by anyway. “I like a little more…luxury when I use the teleports. You ever use them for non-business purposes? Trying to find someone? That seems to be the main kick for people.” Nick would’ve marveled at the giant copper tanks and pipes. It was like a maze. They carved out a path towards the back.

“Honestly I hate whiskey but it’s good for business. What’s your drink of choice?” He wasn’t sure he’d ever seen Orion in Rapture.

"No, I don't come here to brew. Although that is an interesting idea." Alcohol was one of his products. While he was primarily someone who sold more illicit goods and alcohol was easily available "over the counter", Orion "sold" it below market value to attract more customers. But he still had to raid it, most of the time. But if he could set up a whole brewing operation... Though, he would have to put a lot of effort into learning the craft. Something to consider for later. For now...

"I just found this brewery some time back and kept it in the back of my mind. The whiskey was not fully aged yet when I found it, but it should be good by now." It should just be a quick run. He and Nick had never worked together on a run, because usually there was no reason to. The fact that Nick still occasionally went out here was good, though. It meant he knew that things could go wrong. It was something many of the non-frequent teleporters completely underestimated. "Luxury? Do you mean the perks?" Orion trailed towards the back, to a wooden door in the ground, leading to the basement. "I only really use them for business. There are not really any people I want to look for, unless someone else tasks me to." He barely missed anyone from his time in Vegas. Nor did he miss his family. Orion tugged on the iron ring, having to strain just a bit in order to dislodge the disformed wood. Finally, it opened.

"I don't drink. Unless I have to sample any of my goods." Orion clapped his hands together, getting rid of some of the dust on them before he motioned for Nick to follow him down into the damp darkness of the brewery cellar, clicking on his flashlight.

"You said people mostly look for others when they go out." Orion's voice echoed alongside the stone walls of the pathway, illuminated only by the cold, white light of his flashlight wandering down the wooden stair. "Is that what you do, usually, when you go out there? Do you look for others, from your life before the Island?"

#with: nick #pn: nick002

I don’t know if there are any… well, that was very concerning. Walid blinked but tried not to think about it too much, much better to just stay silent and pray that there were indeed no monsters. They tried to remember if they knew what said monsters looked like, but then quit on that too because they REALLY didn’t want to know.

But the servers could be worth it. The tower ran on its own servers, meaning they were always at its mercy when it came to space. Walid knew they could power a whole arsenal if they had these to play with, perhaps enough to back up some personal data for everyone on the island. Easier to access. They could create a NAS, let everyone connect to it from wherever on the island they were. They were so giddy with that idea that they accepted the flashlight with a daze expression and nodded.

Then the groan sounded and Walid almost flew out of their skin. “Pipes?” They said, with a pitched tone. They took the flashlight and pressed it against their chest, turning it on accidentally and flashing the thick light into their eyes, scaring themself even further and stumbling back until they fell on their butt.

#with: walid #pn: walid002 #I love him

Walid seemed even more nervous, which was likely not a good sign. Orion watched them as they seemed to jump out of their skin at the sound of the pipes(?) groaning inside the walls, and as they scare themselves with the shine of the flashlight. Orion wouldn't have expected him to be that easily frightened. "Yes. Pipes. They make strange noises sometimes." He affirms as he reaches out to pull Walid back onto their feet without much effort.

Orion tilts his head as he regards the other person carefully. Perhaps it would not be wise to leave him alone. Walid didn't seem very secure. Orion had worked with people like that before, those who weren't used to being in a post-apocalyptic, unsafe environment. Normally, he was tasked specifically with guarding them, so it wasn't an issue since they weren't meant to split up. But if he left Walid alone now, they might get startled and run out into the street, or get themselves into other danger..

"You should come with me. The fuse box should not be too far off. I can protect you. Would that make you feel safer?" He asks. Or maybe Walid would feel like heading back, leaving Orion to scavenge the technology.

tamyrawilliams

So they weren't after some board game, alright, good. That would have been lame. Orion didn't elaborate on what he was after, though, and Tamyra thought about pushing, but she figured whatever it was, she'd learn sooner or later anyway.

They hopped through the portal and as she took in the scenery, she sighed. "Why must it always have to be cloudy. You'd think even in an apocalypse, the sun would shine still, since it wasn't what blew up, but nope." The two of them then headed off, Tamyra following Orion's lead.

She let out a small chuckle, "Look, if you want to be the big hero who saves the day in case of a fight, I'm happy to let you do the honors. I'm not the kind of person who throws a fit if she can't do anything herself. But yeah, I learned quickly that I have to be able to protect myself if I use the teleports. I go on supply runs sometimes all alone, those are the ones that I am most vigilant in, but I always take these whenever I teleport. No offense but if you suddenly decide to drop dead, I'd still have to get back to Pan."

A moment of pause, and she looked over at Orion. "I learned all of it here, though, as I went. Got beaten up a couple of times at the beginning. But you-- you've always seemed to know what to do. You learned before Pan, right?"

#with: tamyra #pn: tamyra003 #i don't know if this is tmi #but he thinks it's hot Tamyra knows how to fight xD

"No offense taken. I think it's good that you can fight." Orion responded. He was used to going out with either other raiders and scavengers, who of course needed to know how to fight, or people who asked him to come along for the sake of protection. Raids like these were rare. Of course, Orion didn't mind that she could. Quite the opposite. "We could train together. You could show me some of your techniques."

During the pause, he had been about to ask where she had learned how to fight, when she answered it herself. However, he hadn't quite expected her question. Now it was his turn to be silent for a moment. "I did learn before I came onto the Island." He admitted eventually as they made their way past the decrepit buildings. "My father taught me how to fight. He... believed that I would need it. Later in life."

His past hadn't been much of a topic between them. Orion didn't talk about it, usually. There had been no reason to. He had left the farm almost twenty years ago. "My parents believed that eventually, the world would end. So they wanted me to be prepared. They were right, in the end." Orion casts a sideways glance at her, before turning his gaze back onto the road, before stopping. They had reached the building. It looked like a normal office building, relatively small, with the logo of the company up front.

"The basement should have been the manufacturing floor. I believe they should have some leftover inventory there, too. As well as the molds, and materials. If all goes right, I can make my own." He was already making his way towards the entrance, casting a glance back as he does. "Are you coming?"

jupitergeorge

Orion had a way of sucking the air out of the room. Not because he stomped and yelled and screamed, but because he was so dang...quiet. Tense and silent, until it was time to speak. Usually it would be an asset and useful trait. A way to calm people down, because he was clearly so immovable.

But Jupiter in her current state of distress, found it irritating, not enough, and yet also a little patronizing.

"You ran away from him." Jupiter glared daggers at Orion. "You weren't even trying to help him. I know there was some....thing flying in the sky, and all I saw was you running away from the monster. You're telling me that I'm wrong? That you were trying to do my husband a favour somehow?"

It was both sickening and relief to know the kids weren't with Kirk at that time. "A dust storm...in Toronto." It seemed insane, but the world was insane now. She slumped. "Okay...okay. I just -"

But she was silenced by Orion's walkie-talkie crackling to life. Jupiter zoomed over, clutching Orion's arm when he pulled out the radio. "Oh my god..." Jupiter cried out, fresh tears blooming as she listened to Kirk saying such beautiful things, including that last part addressed to Orion. Jupiter grabbed the walkie talkie out of Orion's giant paw. "Kirk! Kirk, it's me! Can you hear me, baby? I love you too! I love you so much, I love - Kirk!" She shook the radio, as if that would do anything. "Kirk?"

Nothing. Silence. The connection had broken. She didn't know if Kirk even heard her. She slowly looked up (and up) to meet Orion's shadowed eyes.

"Can you honestly tell me, that you did everything you could to try and save my husband, Orion Carnell? He seems to believe it of you. He's grateful to you, like you're a hero. So, do you also believe you deserve that gratitude?"

#with: jupiter #pt: jupiter001 #i love seeing them struggle

Something about her accusations unsettled him. He had dealt with angry people before, people accusing him of stealing their drugs or money or kicking them out of the club unfairly. He hadn't been accused of leaving somebody to die, before. The relief Orion had experienced at the fact that Kirk wasn't dead was overshadowed by Jupiters darkened eyes looking up at him with anger and grief and emotions that had never really been directed at him.

He took a step back from her, this time not because he felt she would attack him. "I did what I thought would be best." He responds, his voice firm as he meets her gaze, even though he is working through the possibilities in his mind. He'd been trained to survive half of his life. He'd survived when the world had broken down, and he'd survived when he went out on raids. But he wasn't perfect. Could there have been another wy? Or was Jupiter misinterpreting the situation?

"The monsters were going to attack and kill him. I was trying to lead them away from him. To give him time to get back up so we could both take cover after." He offered an explanation. "When you appeared, you drew their attention. They would have attacked you if I hadn't grabbed you. You would have died." To him, everything sounded logical. He hadn't had a gun on him, so he couldn't have tried to fight them. His knife wouldn't have been enough to pierce their skin, let alone that his chances wouldn't have been good when it came to hand to hand combat.

"There is not much else that can be done, now." Mechanically, Orion worked through the possibilities in his head. "No raider should go out there in these conditions. Some might be willing to risk it, but it's dangerous. The monsters come out at night, so it would be best to wait until the day." By then, Kirk might be dead. Or long gone. Orion was good at tracking, but he had been trained in forests and natural areas. Doing it in an urban environment would be difficult.

With the odds against them, finding Kirk would be difficult. Potentially impossible. "He is alive, at least." In a way, he hoped that would comfort her.

ORION CARNELL [TASK01 - HALLOWEEN COSTUME]

#offtopicori #pantask01

alexpanganiban

"Well, I don't have a sex life." Tomas was determined to be contrary today, it seemed, even internally. "At the moment, anyhow. I could if I decided to, I'm just ... busy. Chronically so."

There wasn't any real reason why he should be so stuck on this topic except that certain things kicked up inside him without much warning from time to time. The lingering bubbles of a long marriage ending in divorce and left unresolved to flounder, Tomas supposed. "Did you leave anybody behind?" he asked abruptly as he followed Orion into his tent -- behind the red curtain, so to speak, where all the more prurient items were kept. "When you came here. My three kids are out there somewhere, and that's upsetting, not knowing if they're okay. But sometimes, Orion..."

Tomas sighed, his attention more on the purveyor of all the smutty and sexy items than the things themselves. Honestly, Orion didn't seem like he had sex on the brain much, himself. He seemed like he'd discuss the benefits of buying some french ticklers the same way as he would a pack of playing cards. In a strange way it made Tomas more comfortable talking about deeply personal things that he had trouble articulating.

"Sometimes it's not knowing what happened to my ex-wife Amy that ties me in knots. We had an acrimonious divorce but it's aggravating not knowing if she's dead or alive." He frowned. "Maybe it's because I'm a terrible, bitter person and I want to know for certain that she's dead because she left me for another man. That's a horrible thing to say, isn't it?"