trans_9 | Freedom's Apparently All I Need [Semi-Open, Bendytimed to End of Shore Leave]

He's got his passport.

He's also got a fake birth certificate, a fake ID card, a fake driver's license and insurance card, and hopes for a brand new life. And he has the same for Orc. That and a suitcase for each of them.

He has to leave the cats. That is, he thinks, the only downfall to the planet. You can't import live things, and he doesn't know how to smuggle them in, so he's going to entrust them to Cedric. Between that and the food stash, the knowledge that he's leaving things behind, things that he'll never get back, hangs heavy on his mind.

He's leaving people behind too. He can't forget that. He wanders through the streets of Agrestic with his new papers and his suitcase looking for the people he wants to say goodbye to before he and Orc escape this war forever. He's not even thinking about what he's going to say to them, hoping that somehow the magic words will appear on his tongue. But he has to say goodbye before he goes.

Away from the Daligig. Away from Stacy. Away from missions and more importantly, away from the threat of the FAYZ. Scared and sad as he is, there is a little skip in his step.

[OOC: he's looking for his closer CR, so new people may approach him but he'll probably brush them off. If your character hasn't met Howard and would like to thread with me drop me a line and I'll set up something new!]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"Or we would have gotten invaded by aliens or nuked ourselves to death or used up all the world's resources and died." Howard remains the voice of pessimism. "We didn't even make it to Mars by the time I was alive."

"But we made it to moon," Ian pointed out, excited about that. "It took hundreds of thousands of years for humans to get that far. You can't expect everything in such a short period of time." He thought it best not to mention that Earth was invaded by aliens, but it was far enough in the future that Howard wouldn't have lived to see it.

"We might not have hundreds of thousands of years, is what I'm saying. We always assume we do but there might be nuclear winter or asteroids." Howard runs a hand over his head. "Instead we wait for aliens to find us."

"This'll be your home now, so it won't matter what's happening to the Earth. If we ever get it back," he added.

"No. But this planet could get hit by meteors too." He chews his lip. "I'm betting we probably aren't from the same Earth, actually. I mean, I guess we wouldn't know unless we went to 2012 in your Earth, but there's got to be a ton of them to accommodate us all."

Ian frowned at the comment about more than one Earth because he didn't see how that made sense. But he wasn't quite so sure about admitting it. "Planets with atmospheres are hit by fewer meteors," he pointed out. "Most of them burn up."

If Howard was going to be so pessimistic about the planet he was moving to, it made Ian wonder why he wanted to stay there. He supposed it was still safer than Stacy in a war, even if it had meteors and alien invasions. "Are you sure you're going to be all right? I could stay here too, if you want."

"Not the one that killed the dinosaurs." Howard's pessimistic in general. Lowered expectations keep him from being disappointed, leaving him pleasantly surprised when things go right. Every morning starts fresh and bright with a cup of I'm-glad-my-house-didn't-burn-down-overnight (only to be darkened by the inevitable I-hope-it-doesn't-tonight).

"You're joking, right? What about Barbara and your friends on the ship and getting back home? I mean, I'm fifteen, I don't need a babysitter."

Howard's genuinely surprised by Ian's offer. As far as he was concerned, he and Ian were friendly acquaintances who happened to share a mutual interest in spaceships. Ian's not the type of person Howard would rearrange his life for, so why would Ian offer to do just that for Howard?"

He shook his head. "But you are only fifteen. I hate to see you go without being sure you're all right." Maybe Howard can look after himself but that doesn't mean he should have to. He should be able to have a normal teenage life.

"There's no such thing as only fifteen." Have a teenager-style eyeroll, Ian. "I'll be more alright here than I would be anywhere else. I've already got forged papers and enough money to hold us down until I find a job."

"I'm glad to hear it." Although he was sure Howard would convince him he'd been fine on his own even if he wasn't. But Howard came across as someone who was fairly capable even if he was only fifteen and still a child as far as Ian was concerned. "At least you'll be able to live in peace." He was all for children not living in war. "Well, look after yourself." He put out his hand for Howard to shake.

"You too, Teach. Don't let Stacy's monsters get you down." He shakes Ian's hand, something he wouldn't have done a few weeks ago, but by now he likes Ian well enough to let him into the personal bubble. "Drop me a line next time you visit."

And with that, he heads off.

Freedom's Apparently All I Need [Semi-Open, Bendytimed to End of Shore Leave]

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