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Post by Opal on Jul 18, 2014 13:29:32 GMT -5
‘Ah, so that’s how it is.’ Opal thought to herself as she held Gill’s gaze while the mutant explained her timely appearance and as Alexei introduced them.
Opal struggled up to an upright position and squeezed Alexie’s shoulder softly before planting a quick but playful kiss on his lips and smiled. “Thanks for holding onto me for as long as you did.” Her voice was soft but sultry, full of promises best kept behind closed doors.
She then turned her attention to Natalya, “Thanks for the CPR. I’m in your debt comrade.” Then she stood up with exaggerated movements that if nothing else proved how stiff, sore, and weak her body truly was. Opal heaved a sigh of victory when she straightened her back and then turned towards her rescuer.
Keeping her movements slow she walked over and sat down gratefully, if not gracefully, in front of Gill and then held out her hand to the mutant. “And thank you, Gill.” Opal said as the other woman hesitantly took her hand and shook it. “Dying here would have been inconvenient to say the least. So I’m glad that it didn’t turn out to be the case.” She gave a good humored laugh and her eyes seemed to literally sparkle with it. “You know I met Alexei under similar circumstances a few years ago. He’s tried to teach me to swim since then but it’s never seemed to take.”
Opal looked over her shoulder and winked at Alexei. “Honestly, maybe he’s giving me bad lessons as an excuse to have me keep coming around. Not that he needs it, he is rather attractive. Don’t you think?”
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Post by Lawnmower Joe on Jul 18, 2014 13:47:46 GMT -5
As Opal sat down in front of Gill, Natalya gave them a knowing look and rolled her eyes.
"We just survived drowning and it can hear the sound of a cat fight brewing..." She muttered. Alexei, on the other hand, was only confused. He was still shaken by the terrible encounter and the destruction of his boat, whereas Opal seemed to have taken it all in stride.
Meanwhile, Gill blinked at Opal, her eyelids sliding wetly over her large eyes. "I, ah, I don't know. Haha, it seems a bit inappropriate to discuss this..."
She shifted, a webbed hand running over the back of her neck.
"But yeah, he...he is" she added softly, a shy smile playing over her lips.
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Post by Opal on Jul 18, 2014 14:25:29 GMT -5
Opal gave a chuckle and a kind smile as Gill floundered for words. “I get it, you’re like him. A bit shy, right? Honestly I find it a bit endearing.” She then leaned forward almost conspiratorially and began to whisper, “But between you and me, once you get him between the sheets, that changes rather quickly. It just takes the proper... encouragement.” Pulling back Opal winked and then moved back towards her companions.
She didn’t exactly feel bad laying claim to him like that but it left her a little confused. Why did she just do that? Opal couldn’t remember the last time she felt any kind of jealousy or possessiveness over another human being. The realization left her with a feeling of unease.
Opal covered the feeling up as she sat back down with a sigh. Later when they were clear she would let herself feel the fear, shock, and unease the last few hours had brought but right now wasn’t the time. Emotional vulnerability was a dangerous distraction.
“Has anyone seen my pack?” She asked, her voice was strained. “I had some painkillers and a water tight sack with a change of clothes. I could really use both right about now.” Opal was tired and all she wanted to do was curl up on her good side and sleep for the next week.
With her being badly busted up and most of their supplies missing, the immediate future looked a little bleak.
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Post by Lawnmower Joe on Jul 18, 2014 15:42:29 GMT -5
Gill stood rock still as Opal walked away. The gilled mutant's expression was unreadable, but deep within she could feel a storm of jealous resentment brewing.
"I'd fancy a dry spot to rest my bones" said Natalya as she felt the tension building up.
"Maybe there's a place beyond those stairs" said Alexei, probing the darkness with his cold grey eyes. "Gill is there any way you could get Opal's stuff back?"
Gill blinked sharply before wordlessly dropping into the water again. She was gone for a good ten minutes before she returned, bearing Opal's, Alexei's and Nat's packs. Opal's rucksack bore a large tear out of which some sodden clothing dangled in dismal melancholy.
"It appears your back was, ah, a bit damaged" said Gill to Opal, fixing her with an unblinking black gaze, "the waterproof bag was also ripped open. Sorry."
The gilled woman handed the pack to Opal. By now even Alexei had noticed the growing animosity between the two women, and he gave them both worried glances.
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Post by Opal on Jul 18, 2014 17:46:45 GMT -5
“I see…” Opal responded dubiously as she took the bag. “With all those tentacles flying around I’m surprised this old thing survived as well as it did.” As she spoke she looked Gill dead in the eye and her gaze bore a dangerous glint of violence. A predatory smile curved the corners of her lips which seemed to say that she knew that wasn’t the case. Opal would have bet a case of bullets that Gill had been the one who ripped it.
Recent events and her guilt where the only things that kept Opal in check. The last thing they needed was a catfight over male territory. With a regretful sigh she turned and held her bag carefully so that none of her painstakingly acquired supplies would fall out. “Bitch!” she muttered under her breath when she saw the state of an old wooden flute she had found on her last mission to the surface for salvageable goods.
Opal began to feel pissed all over again and made a noise that could only be described as a growl as she mounted the stairs. She held herself erect and all but strutted, despite a slight limp. She was feeling just vindictive enough to use the visual her backside presented to her advantage. If Alexei was paying any kind of attention, the man was toast. At another time, Opal would have found all of this fairly beneath her but right now she didn’t give a shit.
The stairs ended on a large platform and it was dry and that’s all that mattered.
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Post by Lawnmower Joe on Jul 19, 2014 8:19:37 GMT -5
"Ah, this is perfect!" Said Natalya, dropping her rucksack onto the concrete floor. She ignored the tension between Gill and Opal, focusing instead on her equipment and Alexei. Exhaustion seemed to radiate from every member in the expedition save for Gill, whose swaying gait had accompanied them up the stairs.
Without any care about modesty, Natalya began to remove some of her sodden clothing.
"Is there any way we could get a fire going here?" She asked.
"-If I could find something to burn we'd be set" said Alexei. The room they were in was bare, with only damp stains on the concrete walls. A metal door lead to other galleries beyond. "I'll go look."
"I'll come with you" said Nat, who had stripped off her soaked and muddy afganka jacket. She gave Opal and Gill a warning look before picking up her Kalash and leaving with Alexei.
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Post by Opal on Jul 19, 2014 11:31:12 GMT -5
Opal gave a sharp snort of amusement as her companions all but escaped the tension of the platform in search of combustibles. She couldn’t really blame them, Opal would make her own mocking escape if she could. But instead she settled herself against the wall and sat wearily down with a sigh.
Deciding to all but ignore the presence of the other woman across the room, Opal dumped the contents of her bag. It landed on the metal with a wet plop that made Opal wince in aggravation. She set to work wringing out her blanket and clothes, setting aside food (thankfully still dry in their own containers), first aid, and other survival gear. Lastly she checked was her instruments. An old harmonica, couple of metal whistles, and the now ruined wooden flute. Opal muttered angrily at the last as she regretfully set it down again.
Finally she located her small store of painkillers and her flask. Taking two she kicked them back with a swallow of the harsh metro made liquor. Opal then readjusted her sling and leaned back. Only then did she make any move to acknowledge Gill.
“Here,” she said and held out the flask. “You probably need a drink as much as I do. Maybe more now that I think about it.”
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Post by Lawnmower Joe on Jul 19, 2014 12:13:49 GMT -5
Gill gave Opal a few discreet glances as the other woman unpacked. Already the gilled mutant had built an intense dislike for her rival. Opal had indeed pushed all of Gill's wrong buttons, and had she made any disparaging comments about appearance or fish, Gill's dislike would have transformed into full-blown hatred.
Gill turned away and looked down the stairs into the darkness. She could hear the water clapping softly against the tunnel's walls, almost a sensuous whisper. A call to return to her element. Out of water Gill felt heavy and clumsy, her senses blurred and her brain seemed to simmer in a pool of vibrating liquid. In the water she was light and free as a bird. The water's vibrations and whispers were like a secret language only she could understand.
But even here there wasn't enough. The metro could only hold so much water. Above them, she'd been told, lay a great swamp and wild rivers breaking free of their ice. At night she dreamt of swimming in a neverending expanse of blue water.
He was torn from her reverie by Opal, who offered her a drink from a flask. Gill hesitated, mumbling something about not drinking that much. She'd only drunk with Alexei, and the cheap booze had overpowered her with alarming speed.
Gill took the flask in her webbed hands and eyed it hesitantly before finally taking the plunge. The alcohol made her gag, and her eyelids fluttered wildly over her large eyes. Hopefully the alcohol would make Opal's presence more tolerable.
"Thanks" rasped Gill, handing the flask back to Opal.
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Post by Opal on Jul 21, 2014 12:57:06 GMT -5
“It’s not the greatest stuff,” Opal murmured as she took the flask back and took another deep swallow. “But it gets the job done, and right now I’ll take what I can get. The last few days have been a special kind of exhausting.” The last was said wearily to emphasize the point and she shrugged. She didn’t regret helping Nat, but this was turning out to be a whole lot more then she had been expecting.
She did hope, with a grudging sense of happiness, that Alexei and Natalya were enjoying their time alone to bond while they could. Gods knew when there would be time enough for it in the days and weeks to come. Opal was happy that at least some good was coming out of all this, especially for Alexei. She knew how much suddenly having a family would mean to him.
With a sigh she capped the flask and set it down. Then in the interests of being dry, Opal stripped down to the minimum and wrung out what water she could from her still soaking clothes and laid them out with the rest of her belongings to dry. She hummed softly as she worked and wrapped herself in her blanket in hopes that her own body heat would speed up the drying process.
Still humming she brushed out her hair as best she could with her good arm and began to giggle lightly. The pain killers were starting to take effect and her eyelids began to droop. Swaying slightly, Opal glanced at Gill and smiled almost drunkenly. “I… I think I’m going to pass out. Hehe, don’t stab me or anything. That would be just rude, don’t you know?”
Pain, lack of sleep, repressed emotions, pills, and booze all suddenly took their toll as she lay down against the wall. Unconcerned in the slightest at how much her blanket actually covered she was a sleep in moments, a smile still curving the corner of her lips as if she was in the most comfortable place in the world.
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Post by Lawnmower Joe on Jul 21, 2014 14:19:09 GMT -5
Natalya and Alexei returned an hour later, dragging a table and a couple of old chairs with them. They only found Opal sleeping in the room, however, as Gill seemed to have gone off for a swim.
With whispered curses and a few shared chuckles, Alexei and Nat got a fire going and proceeded to lay their clothes and equipment out around it. Both sat by the fire, wearing nothing but their underwear and sharing a cup (actually a couple of old tins) of hot mushroom tea.
Alexei couldn't help but notice some if the old scars on his aunt's body, and when he asked her about then her face darkened.
"Got those in Chechnya" she said, "falls and cuts, a knife attack, some shrapnel..."
"-Chechnya?" Asked Alexei.
"A miserable place" said Nat after a pause. "Mountainous, cold...many good soldiers died there..."
Nat's eyes clouded, and Alexei remained silent. What did a mountain even look like anyway? He soon found himself drifting through dreams of the world before the war, a world crossed by majestic trains and dominated by proud buildings of brick and steel. A world without hunger or darkness, a world free of radiation and mutation...a world he wouldn't fit into.
The soft sound of bare feet drew their attention, but they relaxed when they saw Gill sway into the firelight. She eyed Alexei briefly and averted her eyes.
"I-I went ahead in the tunnel" she stammered, "it's too deep and long for you to swim with all your equipment, and the Hansa won't let me past their checkpoint."
"So we're stuck?" Said Natalya.
"-Not yet" said Alexei, gazing into the fire. His pupils became thinner than knife blades, and Gill couldn't help but gaze at him. "The tunnels we explored earlier seemed to lead upwards. Either they lead to the Ring Line, or they go to the surface..."
"-But above us is only swamp" said Gill, casting a fearful glance upwards, "and you know how dangerous it is. Few people come back from that place."
"It's either that or staying here until someone comes by" said Alexei, "and I don't think anyone will be coming round here soon. Besides, I don't want to wait for that monster to come back."
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Post by Opal on Jul 21, 2014 15:40:09 GMT -5
Opal never held very still, even in sleep, and tended to toss and turn and usually ended up with her limbs tangled up in the blankets. It was during one such burst of movement that she shifted and banged her bad shoulder sharply against the wall. Her pupil-less eyes snapped open in surprise and she gasped in pain and rolled onto her back. “Uuuuuhg.” She moaned as she blearily glanced about her.
Sitting up she stretched as best she could and yawned. Rubbing the sleep from her face she noticed the others were already up and moving around. How long has she been out? She wondered. Opal shrugged and slowly stood up, unconcerned that as the blanket fell it largely revealed her state of undress, and took an inward stock of herself.
Still stiff and rather sore the swelling had gone down in her shoulder and allowed a freer range of motion but she’d have to be careful with it for a few days. The side of her face and down over her rips was a mess of cuts and deep bruises, but nothing had needed stitches or broke so she wasn’t too worried about it all. Satisfied she finally got dressed and started packing away her things.
Opals eye twitched with irritation as she tried her best to mend the rip in her bag so that nothing fell out. Be nice, she told herself, can’t afford to lose it again. Swallowing her pride for the moment she smiled and nodded in muted greetings of ‘Good Morning’ to the others as they passed by.
Out of the corner of her eye she spotted Alexei moving away from camp, probably to make sure it was clear. Quickly walking over to Nat she bent her head and whispered to the older woman, “Distract Gill for a moment for me will you? I need a moment with Alexei.”
She caught up to him quickly enough after sight of camp was lost. Most would find the darkness unsettling without light but she and Alexei could both see without the assistance. If anything she found the darkness calming.
“I hope you got some rest last night love.” Opal kept her voice low as she approached and wrapped her arm around him in a quick affectionate hug. She took a step back and brought her fingers to his face and lightly touched his cheek. “I’m glad you’re alright. You know I’d rather dislike it if that monster got you because you were too busy saving me. But I’m also glad you did, so thanks.” She then brought her face to his and gave what she considered a ‘proper thank you kiss’. Unlike her usual aggression it was soft and she hoped it could say what she couldn’t herself. At least not yet.
"So," Opal murmured with her face still close to his, "what are we going to do now that the boat is gone?"
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Post by Lawnmower Joe on Jul 21, 2014 16:00:20 GMT -5
"So..." Said Natalya, turning to Gill as Opal walked out of the room. The fire had died out long ago, leaving only glowing embers and the scent of smoke in the cool tunnel air. Gill looked at Nat, her odd eyes blinking in that unsettling way of hers.
"Hm?" She said.
"-Okay, you're going to have to explain the blinking thing, Gill", said Nat with a husky chuckle.
"Oh, ah" said Gill, "I have a solid membrane over my eyes. My eyelids are behind it."
Natalya stared. Alexei's eyes had unnerved her, but Gill was a whole new level of inhuman weirdness. The mutants gills fluttered briefly, and Natalya blinked.
"This Metro..." She muttered tiredly, "what have we done to ourselves and our children? We crawl underground like rats, the world is a poisoned shithole and our children are born as monsters."
Gill rose, fists clenched in sudden anger. "Monsters?!" She said, "are you saying I'm a monster?"
"No, no, that's not what I meant!" Said Natalya.
"You normals, you're all the same. Only one step from putting us up against the wall and shooting us" hissed Gill before abruptly turning away.
"Gill, wait!" Cried Natalya, but too late. Gill had already vanished into the flooded tunnel, a soft splash echoing off the damp walls. Natalya swore and squatted down next to the embers.
"You fucking idiot" she muttered, and felt her uncertainties bear down on her with crushing force. Would she ever adapt to this new world?
Alexei stiffened in Opal's embrace, and he fought the urge to shove her away. Her proximity set him on fire, but it also felt false and hollow.
"We're going to have to cross the surface" said Alexei coldly, "through the swamp. It's the only way."
He paused, his thoughts muddled. He had finally seen what was going on between Opal and Gill, and he did not like it one bit.
"Opal..." He said softly, "I want you to be nice to Gill. She's a good friend, but she puts up with a lot of crap back in Venice. I don't want her to think we're rejecting her."
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Post by Opal on Jul 21, 2014 16:36:19 GMT -5
Opal flinched back at his words as if she had be slapped. She felt like she was suddenly being reduced to dirt and spit on. Her eyes widened with hurt and she couldn’t keep back the angry tears from falling. Opal had all but been baring her soul just then and he had been oblivious and completely rejected it. She gripped her shirt with a shaking hand above her heart, she was surprised how much it hurt.
“Is that… what you really think of me?!” She finally spat out. Her voice shook with the force of her emotions. “When have you ever seen me judge someone because of how they were? Look at ME!” Opal yelled and pointed to her eyes. “I am not so cruel as to reject someone because they are like me! You think I enjoy making people suffer as I have suffered?! As you have? Are you so blind not to see what is going on?”
Opal paused and her chest heaved with the effort of keeping so much of her hurt back and her voice dropped to a venomous hiss. “Alexei, you had better wake the fuck up or you are going to someday realize what it is was you had and it’s going to be too late. Ultimately this has nothing to do with Gill.”
She glared at him silently for a moment and then turned heel and limped away. Opal left him there and did her best to wipe the tears from her eyes and steady herself before she walked back into camp. She had managed a little normalcy and hid her eyes with her glasses by the time she came into view.
Giving a shaky nod towards Nat she donned her heavy jacket and brought up the hood before leaning against the wall and sliding down to sit. Opal heaved a sigh and glance back at the other woman. “Heh, looks like the last 5 minutes wasn’t any more enjoyable than mine.”
Only then was it she registered what else Alexei had said. Oh Christ… the swamps. This day was off to a tremendous start.
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Post by Lawnmower Joe on Jul 21, 2014 17:04:41 GMT -5
Alexei sighed and shook his head. How could he ever understand Opal? A quick drunken fling was all they had had, then she had vanished for several months before showing up again and expecting him to bend over backwards for her every whim.
But he said nothing. He had made his position clear regarding Gill and Opal. He would tolerate no fighting. So in silence he rejoined Natalya, who was now alone by the dying embers.
"Where's Gill?" He asked, concerned. He knew such a question might further annoy Opal, but Alexei was beyond anything the female wanderer could throw at him.
"-I think I offended her" said Nat, one hand rubbing the back of her neck. She stormed off into the water."
Alexei sighed heavily and pinched the bridge of his nose, his eyes closing tight. Things were just getting better and better. With a sigh he began to descend the stairs.
"I'll go get her" he said, "we're going to need her help in that swamp."
After twenty minutes spent slapping the water with his hand, Alexei finally managed to get the gilled mutant out of the tunnel's murky depths. Gill said nothing to Natalya and Opal, ignoring them like a shark would ignore a couple of rocks on the sea bed. Alexei lead the way into the tunnels, glad to be finally getting away from this accursed underground river and it's monstrous inhabitants.
The group made their way silently through the tunnels, encountering nothing but mould and rats. A lone spiderbug scuttled away from the beams of their lamps, but nothing else showed up.
Finally they reached the bottom of a steep and slippery ladder, which lead upwards through a narrow pipe. Looking up Alexei caught te faint glimmer of daylight.
"I'll go first" he said, placing one boot on the lowest rung. The steel ladder creaked threateningly as Alexei began to slowly make his way upwards. As he climbed, he saw strange plants clinging to the sides of the pipe, as well as dark rivulets of water. The air became damper and more musty.
Alexei reached the trapdoor at the end of the pipe and, with a shove, swig it open. The trapdoor groaned loudly, and Alexei stepped out into the cool damp air. He quickly fastened his gas mask, a simple industrial respirator, and looked around him. He was standing in the remains of a small brick building, and all around stood the tall silent shapes of apartment blocks, their windows and walls thick with some unknown creeper plant. Directly outside the building was a large expanse of water, with the occasional isle sticking out. A lone road sign proclaiming STOP in faded letters indicated that there might have been a road there.
"What a lovely place" said Natalya as she stepped out behind him. Her gas mask was a more sophisticated model, with black rubber an plastic and two filters. Gill, on the other hand, simply stared at the watery expanse, her face partially hidden by an odd-looking gas mask made of salvaged rubber.
"Keep an eye on the water" said Alexei, "this place is full of things that can tear a man to pieces in a heartbeat."
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Post by Opal on Jul 22, 2014 12:38:32 GMT -5
That first step into the light always made her eyes burn furiously and she was forced to stand still until it passed. Blinking away the discomfort she adjusted her glasses with her mask and settled her hood over it all. Not an inch of her skin showed and that suited her fine, it gave her a sense of privacy that she wouldn’t have had otherwise.
In some ways she was more at home on the surface than in the tunnels of the Metro. Opal spent most of her time up in the open air and she enjoyed the freedom of being able to actually stretch out and feel dry and warm instead of damp and clammy that was the norm down below. When her job was done and it was time to report back she always had to fight back a sense of claustrophobia. Such was life.
Glancing around, she took in their surroundings and carefully held her crossbow to the ready. Using the damn thing didn’t excite her in the least with her shoulder as it was. Grunting to herself she ignored that concern and focused. Nothing moved, but that didn’t mean something didn’t lay in wait amongst the debris.
Letting Alexie lead, Opal wordlessly took up the rear of the group where she could best keep her eye on everyone. None of them spent the time she did wandering the wasteland and so she felt a certain amount of protectiveness over her companions, no matter how infuriating they might be.
Carefully she stepped around one murky puddle after the next, the ground spongey underfoot with inches of dead and growing things. Her mask did a lot of the work of keeping out the smells of the swamp but couldn’t keep all of the rot from encountering her unfortunate nostrils. Her nose curled up in disgust but she was thankful it wasn’t worse.
For a time they weaved through the ruins and castoffs from the previous civilization without issue. But a sudden noise caught her attention. Opal froze and pulled off her hood to better hear and cocked her head to the side. The soft sunlight glinted off the red of her hair as she listened, the only movement she made was nothing more than the wind tugging at her hair and clothes.
Opal heard the noise again as it echoed over the stagnant water and groaned. “Howlers.” She called softly so the others could hear her. “Some distance yet but how far… the water distorts too much to know for sure. We need to get out of the open.” The last might have been stating the obvious but as she looked around she saw little hope of that happening with any kind of success.
If it had been just her, sure totally possible, but all them? Hopefully they were downwind enough that the howlers would never even know they were ever there. But just in case she loaded an incendiary bolt into her crossbow.
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