Master of None

Ryker Dallas Tarretti. Sector 2. 23 Chemist/Pharmaceuticalist in Sector 1. Earth scum.

[rykertarretti-blog]

[rykertarretti-blog]

Ryker when he found out the pool they go to also does pedicures. <3 <3 <3 

[ignore the shore line]

[rykertarretti-blog]

[31 Hours Before Ryker left for Exodus]

“C’mon... Just a quick one,” Ryker pleaded.

The orange-hair girl sitting next to him tilted her head, her eyes rolling over to look at him. She shook her head. “No, Rye. It’s making me too sad...” She plucked the cigarette from between his fingers to take a long drag from it.

He sighed before taking a swig of his beer. He pouted. “Pweeese? I have pictures of us, sure... but I want just a little video to look at when I start to miss you, Teal.”

She exhaled the smoke a bit forcefully. “You shouldn’t be missing me while you’re up there doin’ whatever...” She glanced over at him before looking down at her feet.

“Yeah? And why is that?” Ryker asked with a cocked brow as he looked over the girl who wouldn’t make eye contact with him.

“You’re movin’ on... You’re leavin’ me... We should move on.”  Her voice was low. He frowned, letting out a sigh. He shook his head. “It doesn’t have to be that way. I can’t just forget you, Teal. I love you.” He placed his hand on hers, his fingers curling to hold it.

“Ryker, you’re asking for the ultimate long-distance relationship. I get why you’re leavin’. It’s to help Zane and I totally get it. I love Zane and I want what’s best for him to get better. It just don’t make you leavin’ any easier. I can’t sit here on this dying rock, looking up at the sky knowing you ain’t comin’ back. I’m going to try... I really am... But we both know it’s better to just move on...” She turned her hand so that she could lace their fingers together. She handed the cigarette back to him.

Ryker didn’t say anything for a minute, listening to the sounds of cars, yelling neighbors, police sirens, and that damn power line buzzing (accompanied with the faint sound of gun shots somewhere far in the distance) fill in what would have been silence between them as they sat in lawn chairs in front of his house. His eyes looked over at her, trying to remember every inch of her face so he could recreate it whenever he wanted. 

“Marry me.”

Teal looked over at him, a bit of shock on her face for a moment, then rolling her eyes once she realized what he asked. “No. We’ve been over this...”

“Dammit Teal,” Ryker groaned, a bit exhausted at her fighting it. “If you marry me today, right now... You might be able to go with me up there.”

“I don’t want to go up there.”

“And why not? You’ll have me and Zane. It’s fancy up there. It’s not here!”

“Up there ain’t home!” Teal let out an annoyed huff. “This place sucks. It’s violent, crummy, dingy, and corrupt, but I know how to deal with down here. Up there... it... it ain’t right. You and I took a pledge. Earth is our grave! We ain’t perfect together, I know that. I can be difficult and you ain’t a peach either... But Earth is our resting place.” She reached over and a swig of his beer, looking off into the street. “Plus, we ain’t made for marriage. You saw what happens when people get married. It goes wrong. What we have ain’t perfect, but it ain’t wrong,” she added. She wasn’t wrong. Ryker didn’t want to spend his last day on Earth fighting with Teal. He took a drag from his cigarette, finishing it and flicking it onto the driveway. He exhaled, squeezed her hand and then stood up to stand in front of her. “Let’s go to the mountains. I think the crazy bootleggers were driven out of there...Let’s have a good last night. There’s that little cabin up there. We’ll go, wake up early, drive back and be back in time for me to fly out of your life forever. Sound good?” Teal thought about it, a small smiling creeping onto her lips the more she thought about it. Her eyes lit up with excitement and jumped up into his arms. “Let’s do it!” 

He spun her around and kissed her. He set her back down and took a step  away from her, pulling out his phone and holding it up. “Now do something nice for the video now that you’re happy for like... 20 seconds,” he told her with a small smile.  Knowing damn good and well she should be making the best out of his final hours, she grabbed his phone from him. She hit record, smiled, and blew him a kiss. She tossed his phone back to him. 

“There! Now ya have it! It’s me forever blowing you a kiss while also kissing you goodbye.” 

[rykertarretti-blog]

Ryker arrived in the Sector 1 medical wing about two hours before the ball started. He figured his evening was going to be a busy one, so he knew he needed to come in and see Zane before things got crazy. He came into Zane’s room and shut the door, hanging his tuxedo jacket on the back of a chair.

“Hey Zane! I meant to come in earlier but I had to scramble to find this damn suit for tonight’s ball and make sure it still fit me. I honestly can’t tell if I have gained or lost weight while floating around up here…”

He moved to the seat that was directly next to the bed. He pulled out the flask he kept in his brother room, along with two shot glasses. He poured himself a shot and poured another for his brother, setting it on the table next to them. He always poured a shot for his brother when he visited; It was for when he woke up just in case Ryker wasn’t there when he did. Ever since Ryker could remember, it was their tradition to leave a drink on the nightstand for the other when they woke up. Usually, it was water or juice (or as they grew older, alcohol) and it was their way of letting the other one know they were home or close by. Ryker figured when his brother woke up, he’d need a shot regardless.

“I.. uh.. came by because I had to confess something to you. I wasn’t completely honest about my mission on the Good Will tour on Earth. I, honestly, can’t believe I’m going back… I joked about it and a part of me still wants it, when you wake up of course… but this…”

His words trailed off as he looked over at his younger brother who looked like he was sleeping. If only…

“Anyways. I’ve come to remind you I’ll only be gone six weeks. I got this little gadget here,” he reached into his pants’ pocket, pulling out a tiny device that seemed to fit into the ear. “It’ll let me talk to you while I’m on Earth. Even though I don’t think we need to wear these damn cuffs, it’s linked to it so I’ll be calling you every night until I get back.”

He slid the small device into his brother’s ear. He had already told pretty much every doctor and nurse on this floor to not remove it under any circumstances. He sat back in his chair, looked at his brother, and let out a sigh.

“I have to do things while I’m down there that aren’t exactly what I told you it was going to be…I can’t really get into specifics, because this place is more rigged up than Cesar’s Palace on the trip,” he laughed with the silence of his brother. If Zane could hear him, he would get the joke.

“I have to do things even I’m against. My moral compass may be a little hard to read at times, but I’ve never thought I’d have to do what they’re asking of me. Typically, I would have just said no, but the epic space dick Abraham Winston threatened you.” He felt his jaw tighten at the mention of the threat of his brother.

He let out a breath to try to calm himself down. “I will do anything for you, you know that. So, when I come back and I tell you of the things I did, please know this; my hands were tied and I had to do what I did because I love you. Whatever will be will be, but I’m not going to let some self-righteous space twat determine what happens with us… with you.”

He looked away from his brother, feeling the guilt settle in. “I might have to deceive people...  “I might have to hurt people... a lot of people... all for the sake of science. I can’t tell anyone about it. I’m torn because I know it’s terrible, but if it works, it’ll be one of the best things I’ve ever made. I just don’t like what it actually is...”

He squeezed his brother’s hand. “You know I’m a good man… I just have to make some tough calls when the time comes…” His eyes searched his brother’s face for validation. “I love you, Zane-Anthony. I’ll only be gone for a little bit. I promise,” he leaned over and kissed his brother’s forehead. It smelled like lavender soap, which meant the nurses must have given him his sponge bath recently.  He let out a sigh and plopped back into his chair.

Ryker stared at his brother for a moment then took the shot he poured for himself. He quickly refilled it and a grin came onto his face. “Before I go, I forgot to tell you about….” And he went on to fill Zane in about his last couple of days.  

[celebritiesandmovies]

[rykertarretti-blog]

Happy 500 year anniversary to Exodus! May it have many more years of having floating space snobs <3

[rykertarretti-blog]

[rykertarretti-blog]

Ryker Dallas Tarretti. Sector 2. Had 23rd birthday in space. Lived on Earth’s New Old Vegas for 22 years. Chemist/Pharmaceutical Scientist (in exchange for brother’ medical care). In addition, chemist considered for Mars Project Just finished his training program and a long trial of if his drug-making skills are legit. …They are! Brother in a coma in Sector 1 medical facility. An okayish guy. Misses the feeling of wind. Speaks first, considers thinking later. Ex-drug dealer. (May or may not help Titus get the good stuff) Loves his brother. Loves his ex-girlfriend, Teal. Doesn’t know if he can love other people. Believes sexual preference is an Old Earth social construct. Now that his duty to take care of his brother has taken an odd turn, indulges a little more than he should. Follows good company. Still thinks Exodus is weird. Makes a new friend, a new lover, and/or a new enemy wherever he goes. It’s rare he does none of those.  Sometimes doesn’t understand what boundaries are, even though he expects others to know his. Doesn’t mind talking about Earth, but doesn’t exactly like it either. Finds brats interesting, but very annoying. Calls most of the young people in Sector one “brats”, but swears it’s a term of endearment. Doesn’t think he’s hot, just knows what he can and can’t get. Misses the taste of real cigarettes. Loves science, but doesn’t like to casually talk about it. Believes Earth’s toxins gave him his smarts. Although rather intelligent, he refuses to come off as a douchey asshat. No one goes with him to visit his brother. That is his time. Believes when his brother wakes up from his coma, Exodus will send his ass back to Earth. As of right now, if they settle on Mars within the next 5 years, he will probably ask to returned to Earth if it’s still around.