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Post by Achille on Oct 28, 2012 23:02:10 GMT -6
~Outside of the BLU Base~
The pickup truck rattled along the worn dirt road, kicking up loose rocks and splashing through puddles formed by the falling rain. The windshield wipers were doing their best to wipe away the droplets of rain that pattered against the windshield, squeaking softly with each renewed attempt to rid the smooth surface of it's liquid invaders. The driver of the vehicle was a nondescript man, Caucasian, in his mid to late forties, and most likely local. He wore nothing expensive, save for a watch his father had given to him as a young man that had the initials of his own father's father etched in the underside of the sterling surface. Of course, the man's passenger couldn't see any of this.
Achille Moretti was far from nondescript. With his obviously Roman nose, jet black hair, sharp jawline and almond shaped eyes, as well as a short, neatly trimmed beard Achille could be called handsome, though not in any overt way. His body, even covered in the strange rubber looking suit he wore at the moment, was relatively athletic without any obvious traces of flub. And he was, as alluded to earlier, completely blind, lending to the complete lack of color in his eyes, something that still unsettled the driver of the rattling truck.
While Achille may have been unaware of much of what was going on around him, he was fully aware of the unspoken distaste the driver had for him. This was not anything Achille had not dealt with before but he felt irked by it none the less. Still, he couldn't fault the man for being bothered with driving him out to a secluded compound on such a cold and rainy day. Not everyone could find the small burning flicker of light in every situation like he could after all. Achille shifted the 'object' in his lap as he shivered at the thought of spreading that flicker of light through a couple of bodies. This action made the driver cough nervously. Flamethrowers rarely made anyone comfortable after all.
The drive continued for another twenty minutes, silence residing for much of that time. Only once did Achille try to start up a conversation and the disinterested grunt the driver shot his way in return keyed him into the fact that he was not in the mood for smalltalk. When eventually the vehicle came to a rest Achille heard the driver shift in his seat to look at him before speaking.
"We're here. Out." The man's voice was deadpan and spoke of an individual who did not smile very often and rarely enjoyed himself even when he did. Achille took the hint and, fumbling around to find the door handle, nearly fell flat on the ground as he exited the truck. Once outside the vehicle the patter of rain became far more clear to Achille and the sensation of the droplets striking his exposed flesh gave him a few moments of joyful pause.
Which was ended rather abruptly by the driver tossing Achille's flamethrower out after him, striking him in the back and driving him to the wet ground. Achille thought to offer up some form of complaint but the sound of a car door slamming shut and an engine revving told him there was little hope the man would hear him. Sighing heavily and groping around for a good grip on his flamethrower, Achille rose from the wet ground, wiped the mud from his suit and prepared to take his first step into his new home.
And taking that first step was his biggest mistake at the time. You see, while Achille had been told where he would be going as well as the general layout of the facility, he had not been told where it would be relative to where he would be dropped off. And so, as he made his way toward what he assumed to be his new home, Achille walked right past the entrance to the BLU base. Luckily for him, he was stopped less than a minute later by a brick wall, which he walked into rather unceremoniously. And in that moment one single thought streaked through Achille's mind:
"I have no fucking idea where I'm going..."
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Ian
Truly Feared
Posts: 244
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Post by Ian on Oct 29, 2012 1:36:20 GMT -6
(( I tried to accommodate the length appropriately... at least a little bit. u___u ))
Earlier in the day, he had hoped the rain would have stopped by now. Ian had plans to go into town to retrieve a few things in the afternoon, but waking up to the sound of rain thumping against the roof and windows that morning had completely voided his agenda. Not considering it really worth trying to get to Rogue River in the unpleasant weather, the young man decided to kill some time knocking down his ever-growing list of paperwork in his office... at least by a little bit.
And that's how he found himself at his desk in the medical ward shortly after awakening today. Every once in a while, the Medic would glance back to the window, only to be greeted enthusiastically by the looming dark clouds and the droplets on the glass -- again, and again. Then he would look back to his papers or take a drink of his orange juice with a light exhale.
The papers strewn out in front of him at that very moment were important. They were files; containing an almost-complete record of someone's medical history. This was the first time his eyes had laid on these -- they belonged to a new teammate. Administration had informed the BLUs that they would be acquiring a new recruit in the very near future, so looking over this information was only to help him along. After all, how bad of a Medic would he be if he wasn't up-to-date on his allies' conditions?
Before he could get to studying, however, a loud 'thump' from outside shook his concentration away. Ian jumped in his seat and his gaze shot back to the window. He knew that sound was way too loud to have been water... or even hail. Could Eric have been outside messing around with her baseballs? Maybe. But she shouldn't be -- so he decided he'd attempt convincing the Scout to come inside. Because staying out in the freezing rain was not how mercenaries stayed... not sick.
He made no hesitation in getting to the base's entrance, making sure to grab his jacket on the coat rack near the door. Once he stepped past the threshold, the mischievous falling water immediately decided to make a beeline for his glasses, lenses pooling up with tiny liquid specks. Oh well, not much could be done about that -- same with his quickly dampening hair. With an agitated huff, Ian began trudging around the outside of the building.
Once he got to the exterior of the ward, he noticed something there -- a figure. A person. Vision obscured, the young man wasn't sure what to make of it. From the body type, he could conclude that it wasn't Eric. It was taller, much taller. More masculine. Closer to someone like... like RED's Spy.
...Was it RED's Spy again? A lump began to form in his throat. What if he had leisurely trekked outside, unarmed, only to find an individual on the opposing team loitering around his home? Something about the possibility of that seemed off, though.
"Uh... hello?" Ian called timidly, keeping his distance a bit. He figured the best way to go about the situation was to be as cautious as possible... and that's exactly what he was going to do.
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Post by Eric on Oct 29, 2012 6:49:06 GMT -6
Although what he found was something different, as it turned out, the medics suspecions of the scout being outside were accurate. Out in the wooden barn near the center of the battlefield, Eric sat on the far left staircase, listening idly to the rhythmic buzzing of the two large saws. She'd never intented to be there that long, but after staying to play with the saws for too long, the downpour of cold rain had began, which was more than enough to keep her inside the barn.
Of course, that wasn't to say the barn was that much more comfortable then being rained on, far from it. It was bone chillingly cold, and because of the worn roof overhead, rain dripped in throughout most of the building. And, Eric thought, this wouldn't be so bad if a CERTAIN fucking moron had thrown a jacket on. There was no question as to who the moron was, after all, she was very aware of her bare arms feeling the chill of the afternoon.
A heavy sigh escaped her as thoughts of a warm, coozy base filled her mind. This was rediculous, why did it have to pick just then to start pouring down? Then again, this was Sawmill, rain wasn't exactly an uncommon thing. No, no, this was irrelevant. Eric shook her head as if to throw off the usless thoughts. Sitting around thinking was only going to get her more cold and wet. Although it had never happened before, she wasn't exactly thrilled by the idea of waiting to see what freezing to death felt like.
She jumped to her feet, noticing to her dismay that the patter of rain against the building appeared to intensify. Of course. Nothing can ever be easy. Reluctantly, she almost dragged herself toward the large entrence facing the BLU side of the battlefield. Sure enough, rain had turned the dry dirt pathway outside into a giant mud puddle the only and idiot would try to run through. At the point though, said idiot didn't care. Taking a deep breath, Eric took a step out the door, planning to run through the rain straight to the base.
It only took a few moments of sliding on the mud before she fell flat on her face. So much for running to the base. She stayed sprawled out on the ground for a few seconds, briefly considering just staying there to avoid running into Ian at the base and having to explain what happened. However, the urge to get into warm, dry clothes greatly overpowered those thoughts, and she pulled herself up, now resolved to walk more carefully to the base.
An eternity seemed to pass before the BLU common building came into sight. In the eyes of a cold, wet scout, the worn old building had never been so inviting. She picked up her pace, noticing as she neared Ian standing in the doorway. However, he wasn't looking at her, or even facing her, instead his attention appeared to be focus on another figure approaching the base. Although thoughts of the RED spy came to mind, it didn't seem as if the figure was wearing the spies signature maroon suit. Besides, Eric couldn't picture him coming all the way out to their base and getting his fancy-ass shoes muddy just to mess with them.
She came to stop a foot from Ian, asking with her eyes still on the figure, "Who's that?"
((Dear Grace, I refuse to believe you typed all that on a phone. And on the off chance you actually did...good God woman are you mad??? -Emily))
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Post by Achille on Oct 29, 2012 8:47:48 GMT -6
((Pffft. You guys don't need to accommodate my post lengths.))
Achille perked up when he heard the sound of wet footfall approaching him, carefully feeling his way along the brick wall as he turned to avoid bashing into anything else. Even in the rain Achille could clearly make out the pattern in which the steps were taken, mapping out their path and destination, the latter of which being himself. When the footsteps stopped, Achille made sure his grip on his flamethrower was tight and that his finger was on the trigger as he waited for a response.
"Uh... hello?" He heard the owner of the footsteps call, uncertainty clearly present in their voice. The speaker was male and from the direction his voice had come from, likely smaller than Achille. Being robbed of his sight had done little to deter Achille's life, thanks mostly in part to having rather excellent hearing. Before Achille could offer any form of response to the voice however another individual came walking through the rain to stand beside the first.
"Who's that?" he heard the woman, for it was indeed a woman's voice that issued from the newcomer's location, say to the unknown man. After having to suffer through hours of long silence in the company of a stuffy driver, Achille felt compelled to answer. He loosened his grip on his flamethrower and extended a hand towards the sound of rain pattering against clothing, offering a small smile.
"I'm Achille Moretti. The new Ash Maker." he said, his deep voice dripping with cheer, clearly showing how pleased he was to have been found by someone. "I was informed by Administration that I would be transferring out here," he swept his flamethrower in the direction he assumed the rest of the compound was in, "though they failed to tell me exactly where I would be going once I got here." His smile turned sheepish and the expression on his sightless face indicated that he was more embarrassed at having to be found than getting lost.
"Perhaps the two of you could show me towards the BLU headquarters around here? If it isn't too much trouble of course." He paused for a moment. "And, you know, if neither of you happen to be RED. That would just make this all awkward and I really don't think I need that on my first day of a new position.
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Ian
Truly Feared
Posts: 244
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Post by Ian on Oct 29, 2012 13:25:24 GMT -6
Having been intensely focused on the unknown individual near the base, Ian was slightly startled by the sound of a voice behind him. His head revolved around only to find one Eric Lau, best served with a topping of mud; looks like his assumption hadn't been too far-fetched after all. His lips turned upward into a grin and he was about to laugh, but was interrupted when the figure in front of them held out a hand and made an introduction.
Since the person seemed kind enough, the Medic took a few steps forward for sight's sake. It took a moment to process 'ash maker', but the trademark blue rubber suit and the flamethrower he was waving around informed him that this was indeed their new Pyro.
Removing a hand from his pocket, Ian took hold of the other man's, giving it a polite, but firm shake. "No, no, it's okay, we're... we're BLU." He stammered along while trying to affirm things with his ally, eyes following the heat-maker in his grasp instead of his face. "I'm Ian. But do you mind if we uh... finish this conversation inside?" His hand retreated from the cold into his coat as he asked, more rhetorically than anything.
He couldn't help but feel something about Achille was off, though. Ian was in casual clothes so he understood the team alignment misconception, but... not being able to find their base? He was walking right alongside it! Oh well, that was something to be curious about once they were warm. With a short turn, the young man began sloshing back to the entrance of the building.
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Post by Eric on Oct 29, 2012 13:45:52 GMT -6
When the man finally came into sight, she was almost surprised to see what appeared to be a pyro uniform. It was about time they got more members, she thought. The BLU base had always felt way too empty. Not to mention, now they had a pyro to help take care of their little spy issue...
Eric listened to the two exchange greetings, more interested in brushing mud out of her hair for the moment. Upon hearing his comment about not knowing what team the two were, she chimed in, "Whaddya, blind? I know I've got a layer of mud on me, but you can still see it's color."
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Post by Achille on Oct 29, 2012 14:00:21 GMT -6
Achille returned the handshake, nodding his head in acknowledgement to Ian's introduction as well as his desire to head somewhere dry. Achille didn't mind the rain but he understood other people's general reaction to it. It was nice to have someone to talk with after so long in silence and Achille was thankful that someone had found him so quickly. He had a bad suspicion that he would have gotten himself lost otherwise. He was just beginning to follow Ian's footsteps when he heard the woman speak.
"Whaddya, blind? I know I've got a layer of mud on me, but you can still see it's color."
Achille paused, turning his unseeing gaze to where he could assumed her to be, making sure that she could see his eyes clearly in the wet weather. He smiled again and spoke in a tone of amusement and good humor. "Blind? Why yes, yes I am. I'm glad you noticed." Achille reached out and, after an attempt or two to find it, eventually managed to pat the head of the shorter woman before continuing to follow Ian's footsteps.
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Ian
Truly Feared
Posts: 244
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Post by Ian on Oct 29, 2012 23:51:25 GMT -6
After taking a few steps in the opposite direction, Ian stopped once he heard his teammates' words. He glanced around just in time to see Achille waving an arm around -- glazed white eyes meeting his own green ones. It took everything he had to stop himself from rudely gasping in shock. This was the perfect example as to why he should regret not looking over those medical papers sooner. And he did.
"Oh man. I... I should've known. I'm sorry." He said sincerely, fully turning around to look at the two now. It did explain why he'd found the man the way he was, though. Still, The Medic couldn't help but feel like a jerk, casually walking away like that. Knowing those kinds of details was part of his job, after all.
As he waited for Achille to catch up a bit, his eyes met once again with another pair -- this time, Eric's. Keeping in mind what happened the last time she received a pat on the head, Ian's face shifted to a soft, pleading look. 'Please don't do this.' It wasn't the right time or the place for another outburst like at RED's base, so he really hoped the Scout would take the hint and not have his gesture lighting her fuse.
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Post by Eric on Oct 30, 2012 6:48:59 GMT -6
Normally, something like that would have pissed her off. What was she, some sort of puppy? This time, however, she was too busy feeling emberassed to be angry. It took her a moment to figure out if he was serious, but the more she thought about it, the more it made sense. But now, she felt like shit. Seriously, what kind of person makes fun of a blind guy? This asshole, apparently. "Oh." Was all she replied in a sheepish tone.
Crossing her arms in a pathetic attempt to stay warm, she followed a few steps behind Achillie, noticing Ian's nervous glance at her. She merely scowled at him and looked away, more annoyed by anything else that Ian thought she'd stoop as low as getting mad at the pyro. Hell, she should be thanking the man for not blowing a gasket at her poorly thought out comment.
After seemingly an eternity of being outside in the freezing rain, the trio stepped inside. God bless the working furnace. It was almost suprising how man bases she'd been to that had faulty air conditioners and furnaces. She kicked off her shoes now caked in mud and knelt, prying the soaking wet socks from her legs.
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Post by Achille on Oct 30, 2012 10:45:47 GMT -6
Achille was saddened a bit when the rain's cold touch vanished upon entering the BLU compound. Achille had learned early on after being blinded that the rain served not only to greatly help in his ability to pick out the locations of others, but also that it had an odd calming effect on him. Still, even Achille would admit that the warmth coming from inside the building was welcome as he continued to follow Ian's footsteps inside, taking time to lean his flamethrower against the wall and to take off his fire retardant boots, leaving them by the entry way. Tracking the mud that was attached to them around the building would have been rude after all.
While he waited for his guides to situate themselves Achille look the time to try and get a feel for his surroundings, walking around until he found a couch to seat himself in. He sat in silence for a few seconds, noting the growing atmosphere of embarrassment and awkwardness. With a soft chuckle Achille spoke from his position on the couch with the intention of defusing a bit of the tension.
"It's rather quiet here. Are you the only two stationed out here?"
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Ian
Truly Feared
Posts: 244
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Post by Ian on Oct 30, 2012 15:27:08 GMT -6
The warm embrace of the BLU common room was a welcome change as Ian lead the three through the entrance. It only took a short moment for his squeaking shoes to be kicked off and his coat to be placed on a rack near the door. Taking a few steps in to give the followers some room, a hand ran through his hair -- gauging the water-to-hair ratio. It wasn't too bad.
He was facing the opposite direction when Achille asked his question. Spinning around, the young man noticed the older had positioned himself on the couch. A bit of thankfulness washed over the Medic; relief that the Pyro didn't seem to need too much help getting around. It was understandable, with him being a mercenary and all, that he wouldn't have much difficulty doing everyday tasks.
"I uh... I don't think so." Ian replied with the same hint of uncertainty from before. "We picked up a Sniper a little while back -- but I haven't seen her in a while." He sat down in one of the chairs as he spoke, wiping a damp hand on a dry part of his pants. "...Or anyone else."
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Post by Eric on Oct 30, 2012 15:57:56 GMT -6
Eric remained on the ground by the front door, opting not to cover the bright blue couches in mud. Hearing the pyros laugh prompted her to look up, a bit of unease leaving her at knowing he hadn't taken her comment badly. "Yeah," she said in agreement with Ian, "This place is always really empty. There's like, only half the people here there should be, and almost all of them are shut-ins." As she spoke, the scout pulled herself up and poked her head into the kitchen just long enough to retrieve a rag off of a counter. She returned to the living room and set to cleaning herself off, grimacing at just how much mud seemed to be on her.
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Post by Achille on Oct 30, 2012 16:25:53 GMT -6
Achille cocked his head (despite not actually looking at anyone) when the replies to his inquiry. Before being reassigned to the Sawmill compound he had been told by Administrations that the BLU forces were lacking in numbers, but even then Achille had assumed they would have at least five or so active mercenaries on hand at any time to carry out their operations. Now it was looking like he had severely underestimated just how small the real number was. Which was a pity really. He had wanted to try his hand at cooking something for his new colleagues.
At least he could keep looking forward to warming up the battlefield. Speaking of the battlefield...
"Any idea how many of our maroon counterparts there are?" he said, removing his gloves and unzipping a few parts of his suit in order to allow for his body to breathe. Remembering an important lesson he had learned from being transferred around often, he added "Is there anyone in particular I should be aware of on the other side?"
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Ian
Truly Feared
Posts: 244
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Post by Ian on Oct 30, 2012 16:55:20 GMT -6
Ian frowned. "I've seen uh... three...? A Medic, Sniper, and Spy." He explained, moving his legs up in the chair to sit Indian-style. The bottoms of his pants were soaked with rain, but the warmth his folded limbs provided made it worthwhile. "Eric's been here longer than I have, though -- have you seen more?" His eyes shifted over, directing the last part at his female teammate.
"The only one that has been troublesome so far is the Spy... but you probably already knew to keep an eye on him." He answered without thinking, then mentally kicked himself for his horrific phrasing. Laughing nervously a bit, he tried to smooth it over.
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Post by Eric on Oct 30, 2012 17:15:19 GMT -6
Before Ian could even finish his warning about the spy Eric piped up in an almost theatrical voice, "The motherfucking RED spy! That's the son of a bitch you need to watch out for. He's a... well I'd say back-stabbing asshole, but that kind of goes without saying. He's still an asshole though! Broke into our base to fuck shit up, stabbed me in the back just for kicks, all during ceasefire! He's a huge dick, and if you ever see- er, know he's around, you burn that fucker to ashes." She paused to take a breath, then continued in a more casual voice, "As far as other teammates go: they have a pyro, she's a bitch, acts like a five year old, a soldier, whose a bigger bitch and tried to blast my arm off with a rocket launcher, and an engine who isn't that bad, I guess."
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