Back to civilization.....kinda

Shawn went and got settled into his room, unpacking things and setting it up the way he wanted. He checked his weapons, bringing his two desert eagle pistols with him when he left the room. He decided he'd like to go and see how the younger group of people were.

Shawn walked the halls and explored a bit before he reached the fourth floor where he thought they were.

He gave a few soft knocks, not wanting to disturb them if they were asleep. "Hello? It's me, Shawn. I was wondering if I could come in?" he asked quietly.

Zack opened the door, the smell of fresh brewed coffee wafting out of the room and into the hall. "Hi, Shawn," he greeted him, stepping aside to let him enter. "Come on in."

Josh sat at the table, paper before him, pen in hand, sipping a large cup of coffee and ignoring his brother's reproachful looks. There were things here that he needed to do. Laying around in bed wouldn't get any of them done.

"Coffee?" Zack offered Shawn, picking up an empty cup in case he said yes. "We've got plenty."

"Yes, please," he said, accepting the offer of coffee.

Looking around, he spotted Seabay's dog and a worried look spread across his face. "So I was just curious, and wanted to learn a bit more about everyone here," he said, smiling.

Zack had gotten the coffee, and Shawn accepted it. Thanking him, he took a sip--it was nice. He had forgotten the taste, and now savored remembering it. It had been years since he had a good cup of coffee.

Marta's growl emerged from the next room, echoing through the doorway. She sat up on Seabay's bed, hackles up, tense and wary, eyes set on Shawn--for she could smell his special nature... and she intended to guard her owner with her life.

Seabay himself had been resting, stretched out beside her on the bed, and sat up stiffly. "What is it, Marta? Shawn's okay... Stand down."

Marta whined reluctantly, not trusting the man.

"Stand down," Seabay ordered again, more firmly.

Laying back down, Marta complied with a complaining whimper.

Well, truth be told, Seabay wasn't sure he trusted him, either. Granted, they knew of each other from before the bombs, but personally, no. And the man wanted to chat with him alone sometime...

He could only hope it wasn't for blackmail.

Stiffly, he sat on the side of the bed, but made no move to stand yet. His legs were aching a bit. "What brings you by, Shawn?" he asked, curious.

"I was exploring a bit around the place and made my way here. Wanted to see how everyone was doing and needed to chat with you about something important. It's nothing too bad--I just need to ask you guys some questions."

Smiling his usual smile and sipping his coffee, he went over to Seabay. "I bring some bad news from farther north--there is a creature in the form of a dark hooded man. He talks of bringing peace back to the world, but I have glimpsed into his mind and have witnessed some of his actions. He will do much harm before he does good and I just need to know one thing..." Shawn trailed off, a serious look now on his face. Lowering his voice to a whisper, he said, "I am not trying to make you feel uncomfortable when I say this... I know you have access to a place of things, resources and such. If it comes down to it and we need to, I ask you only out of concern for those remaining alive on earth, will you bring me to it's location?"

He waited eagerly for a response.

Josh rose then from the table and moved to stand behind Seabay, his expression somewhat less than trusting as he eyed Shawn.

"No offense, Shawn, but if I'd known that was why you came I wouldn't have let you in," Zack told him honestly, not liking how he'd turned up trying to push Seabay for promises of help he had no right to. "Everyone has their secrets. If they don't offer them, you shouldn't speak of them. They're not yours. Seb didn't offer anyone his. So if you want to stay, sit down and drink your coffee. If you're just here to push Seabay, though, you should just go."

"I just wanted to make people aware of this dark-robed guy, this danger out there... I was simply asking just in case the dire need came, but I seem to have offended everyone so I think it may be better if I go. Thanks for the coffee and... sorry..."

Shawn set the cup down a little harder then he meant to, breaking the handle off, and left the room. He didn't feel as though he was pushy--he had just asked a question, nothing more.

Making his way back to his room, he began his daily work out: five hundred push ups and eight hundred crunches, to work off some of the anger he felt caused by their accusations.

Lia was busy doing some morning stretches when Shawn had arrived, and moved into some less space-consuming dance moves. She had pushed furniture aside for extra space, and it was certainly coming in handy. It felt good to move again, and she quickly realized her range of motion wasn't what it had been. Now that they were somewhere safe, somewhere she could actually think about rebuilding a life, she would have to get herself back to work. She missed dancing as an amputee might miss a lost limb, and she desperately wanted to get back to it.

Up until now, however, the idea of spending 3 hours a day exercising and doing various dance moves had hardly seemed practical. In fact, if she had done so, she doubted she would have lived this long.

She watched in silence as Shawn entered their room and took coffee, doing plies and the like. It was strange to think the man that had once been such a national hero was actually here, in the same room as them...

And asking Sebastian about his access to whatever stashes he might have access to. Lia frowned at that, though she knew the blind teen was capable enough of defending himself if need be. Still, Zack and Josh spoke up on his behalf, which warmed Lia's heart, assuring her that they were, indeed, their own brand of family that would look out for each other.

She stopped her exercises when Shawn stormed out, and she looked at, "her boys," with concern.

"Wow, he seems chipper," she quipped aloud. "I hope he doesn't hold a grudge." She sighed and pulled at a nearby towel to wipe some of the sweat off her face. "Being up in the station, he really must have been out of touch with what's happening down here," she said. "He's got to realize that it's not so easy to trust people nowadays, even space heroes."

Still, she did feel a little sorry for him. He seemed sincere in his desire to use whatever supplies Seabay had access to to help others. The problem was that admitting his knowledge of them might be bad for Sebastian's health, and you never knew who might try to use such information for personal gain.

She understood why Sebastian wouldn't want to give out the information.

.

Zack wasn't sure how to explain the problem with Shawn without telling Kait too much, so he decided to let someone else do it.

At her question about the coffee, Josh and Zack exchanged a look. Zack opened his mouth to answer for his brother, but was stopped by a barely perceptible shake of Josh's head. Snapping his mouth shut again, he began collecting the mugs, supposing if she didn't actually count them Josh might get away with it. Josh, for his part, simply went back to his schematics, head bent low over the paper, thus averting Kaitlyn's gaze entirely.

In an effort to distract her, Zack pounced on the cart. "Not much? Are you kidding? It's ROAST BEEF!" He began piling a sandwich fit for a king, then remembered his brother's reaction to mixed food. "Um..." he said, holding it so that the contents were obscured by the bread and his hands. "I'm gonna go eat this ...over there..." He nodded to a point through the open door, clear in the other room.

Seabay had remained silent, not answering Shawn's question. He really didn't know the answer. For all he knew, the space hero had an ax to grind against this "black robed guy", and just wanted someone to ally with who had the resources to ensure the latter's demise. How much did he know about the guy, really, other than public reputation? And what did he know about this "enemy" other than those few words Shawn said? Besides, how could Shawn have "looked into his mind" like that, anyway? This was real life, not science fiction. If things came down to such a guy threatening his friends, however, then of course Seabay would give what he could to help them, but until he was in the situation where his special information was needed, he wouldn't make any promises.

The blind teen smiled a bit at Josh and Zack's defense. It was kind of nice, having "brothers" to stand by him after being an only child for his whole life. He shook his head at them, to reassure them that they didn't have to worry about him right now, but abruptly then lifted his head upon hearing Miss Kaitlyn's arrival.

"Nothing happened with Shawn," he told her quietly with his harsh voice, dragging himself onto aching feet. Marta whined, and he patted her absently a moment, before heading for the table to sit in a chair with a sigh. He leaned over the cart, sniffed the contents, and began filing a plate for himself, more a personal buffet instead of a sandwich. "Smells good. Guess we'll figure something out for dinner, then, Miss Kait. Gonna join us, Lia? Though, if nobody minds, I'm going to take the leftover beef for Marta when we're done."

Shawn finished the last of his crunches and and relaxed for a few minutes, thinking. He drank some of the water he had and poured a bit over his head. Thinking hard about what had transpired just now, Shawn knew what he did was wrong, so he put a shirt on and made his way back to Seabay's and the teens' rooms.

He stood outside for a few, hoping they wouldn't be mad with him--he had broken the coffee mug, after all, but not intentionally.

Shawn gave another knock. "Hey... it's me, Shawn. I just wanted to apologize for what I did just now. It was disrespectful and... well... not a very nice way of getting to know everyone," he said, hoping they would forgive him.

Lia's attention was drawn away from Shawn to Kaitlyn as she entered the room with a cart. The dancer decided it was likely time to simply give up on finishing her exercises, and she was busy wiping the rest of the sweat off her brow with her towel when Kaitlyn started lecturing Josh about the coffee. The teen barely kept from rolling her eyes at this; yes, Josh should keep away from coffee, but it wasn't as though he was a child. She'd told him as much already, and nagging was hardly the tactic that would work on someone like Josh.

They might be teens, but after all they'd seen, they weren't children anymore, and Kaitlyn wasn't their mother. Lia feared it seemed the healer was already trying to take on that role.

At Sebastian's offer of food, Lia shook her head and shrugged. "No thanks. I'm not really hungry," she answered. After having only eaten a meal a day for so long, the bounty of food they'd eaten in the past days since arriving made her feel full. "Give my portion to Marta. I can wait until dinner."

The knock on the door and Shawn's voice made Lia raise an eyebrow. The outburst hadn't geared toward her, however, and she didn't feel it her place to give any form of forgiveness. That part was Sebastian's to give. She did, however, open the door to admit him back into the room so he could make his apologies more formally.

Shawn thanked the young lady for allowing him to enter. He walked over to where Sebastian was. "Hey, I just wanted to apologize for my actions earlier. It was wrong of me to do what I did, and there's no excuse for it. I have just seen so much destruction and felt the pain of the planet since I came back to earth. I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me. I only aim to do good and help. I hope I didn't offend anyone too badly; you all seem like a small family..." He trailed off and sadness spread across his face as he looked around at all of the young people, brought to this when they should be enjoying life--not struggling to survive.

"I was going to go out scavenging for some things. Don't suppose anyone wants or needs anything in particular?" he asked everyone in the room.

Zack set his sandwich aside and went to pick up the list Josh had made, then remembered that Shawn wouldn't be able to read it. Not written as it was in the tiny little glyphs his brother always used. He reached for a pencil to translate it for him, but Josh stayed his hand, preferring to find what he needed himself. Sending another out was too likely to produce unusable results. Besides, he wasn't sure how far he trusted Shawn yet, and he wasn't about to become indebted to him.

They would wait.

Sighing, Josh rose and moved to stand beside Sebastian, for moral support if nothing else. He really wasn't in the mood for conflict, to be honest. He wasn't in the mood for visitors, or food carts, or scoldings, or any sort of in depth discussions. He was tired, and kind of sick to his stomach, and his shoulder hurt more than he'd ever admit to anyone. Right now, he just wanted a long hot shower, a cup or ten of coffee and some quiet time to figure out where he stood here once the work that needed done was finished now that his family, such as they were, was in a place where they didn't really need him too much anymore.

He wasn't about to stand aside and let someone try to back his "brother" into a corner, though. This one would have to prove himself a friend before he'd let him get close to any of his family again...

Seabay waved after Kaitlyn as she headed out to the market, and dug into his food, albeit slowly. It wasn't a lot, but he knew he needed certain things if he hoped to continue to recover from near-starvation without his usual problems worsening. Vitamins, minerals, things like iron and calcium and so on... Dead rats didn't have much nutrition, after all.

It wasn't long before Shawn knocked again, and Lia admitted him. The blind teen stiffened, hearing his voice again, and sighed, setting his fork down.

Hearing the former hero out, he shrugged a bit. "Yeah, well, you can guess I'm not about to just admit to even knowing that kinda stuff... especially as I don't really know you, you know what I mean? No offense taken--but don't spread the word, either."

Sebastian glanced towards his dog on the bed, and considered what they might have to do if word did get out. Probably pack up and get the hell out, and notably so. Otherwise, who knew what might come after him--not just within this colony, but from outside it, seeking that information, access to those resources... In this state of the world, such information was dangerous.

Leaning back in his seat, he looked up where he felt Josh standing, then over at Lia and Zack, feeling a bit reassured.

He and Marta likely wouldn't be alone, at least.

"If it's pretty obvious that people need the help desperately, as in right this minute, yeah, I might consider talking about that stuff, Shawn... but in a lot of those places, there's stuff that really shouldn't be just found by anyone. It might open a whole new can of worms... and that's even if the places aren't already infested with mutants or scavenged clean by some lucky explorers or taken over by raiders. It may be hit or miss," he admitted ruefully, though he himself doubted the latter. If raiders hit these stashes, at least the bigger ones, he had a feeling they'd be taking over everything in sight and plowing through the country mercilessly--and creating a huge hubballoo. "We'll see when the call comes, I guess."

Marta whined from the bed, hackles up as she glared at Shawn still.

Seabay shook his head, and waved off the offer for scavenging their needs. "I'm good... at least for now. The colony's got whatever I can think of. Anyone else?" he asked the rest of his new family. After all, he couldn't see their reactions.

"Yes, I know Sebastian. I thought about that after I left the room, what would happen if word got out. Your secret is safe with me. I would never reveal the information you hold even under threat of death," he said.

Shawn turned to the rest of them, bowing in apology. "I am sorry for my rudeness earlier, and I know you all might feel bitter towards me and untrustworthy, which is understandable, but I hope in due time we can become good friends. I shall take my leave for now. Might we all have a meal together later, if you would allow me?" he asked.

Lia watched the byplay between Shawn and Sebastian quietly, ready to jump in to Seabay's defense again if things called for it.

Thankfully, things seemed rather amicable as the astronaut apologized and the teen responded with his own explanation of things.

"I'm beginning to think my estrogen really isn't enough around here. Too much testosterone flying around," she said with a sigh. "I need to find myself another girl to hang out with," she grimaced, though deep down she knew she wouldn't trade her "boys," for anything. Not even Zack.

Besides, girls got so /catty/. Or they tried to become your mother, like Kaitlyn seemed to be trying to do.

"Oh well... guess in the meantime I should go hop in the shower," she thought aloud with a shrug. She glanced quickly at Josh, where her eyes lingered a few moments. He was certainly standing by his makeshift family, something she had to admire.

"You boys won't get into a scuffle while I'm in there, will you?" she teased aloud, allowing her gaze to finally shift away from the injured teen.

"No promises," Zack answered with a smirk. "Sure you don't want to stick around to ground us if we misbehave, Mom?"

Josh just rolled his eyes and shook his head.

"Can't speak for Seb or Lia, but Josh and me'll just eat here," Zack answered Shawn. "We don't do crowds... or strangers. Besides, he's supposed to be resting. We were attacked by a whole mess of mutants... him and Marta fought off a whole bunch of them but..."

Josh shot Zack a warning look indicating he was sharing too much... again.

Zack balked. "Um... yeah. We'll probably just stay here."

"I'm not exactly the best at finding places in a new building, and if I don't know where things are down there... without Marta, I'd be setting myself up for a world of hurt. I think I'll be staying up here with Zack and Josh," Seabay admitted ruefully. "Sorry, Shawn. Guess we're homebodies until we're feeling frisky again."

The blind teen flashed Lia a smirk as she mentioned needing estrogen for company. "You can always sit with Marta for a bit. She's not neutered," he teased playfully. "Otherwise, we'll be good, Ma. Shawn breaks only mugs, I think, right? I don't think any of us are thinking of a scuffle."

Though even as he said that, Seabay was very aware of he gun holstered still against his ribs, and the switchblade in his pocket. If need be, he was pretty good at close quarters by sheer necessity, though against someone like Shawn? Only Marta might succeed there--or with help he might... But considering Shawn had only stormed off before, he doubted the man was the kind for undue violence towards others.

So he flashed the girl a reassuring grin, confident that they'd be okay.

Josh sighed and leaned against the wall beside Seb casually, still watching things closely, but, though he'd never admit it, needing the support. He blinked slowly, drawing a deep breath, and listened to the conversation closely. At this point, he knew, if it came to a fight he'd likely have a problem. He might manage to slow someone down but, short of shooting them, he'd never stop them in the shape he was in right now.

God, he really needed that shower. And coffee. And time to think, or work he could do even as he was. He needed to be productive. He looked around the room and frowned. He supposed he should start here, cleaning up the place for himself and his family.

He blinked again, taking another slow deep breath. He'd get right on that. The moment the room righted itself enough for him to stand straight on his own. Meanwhile, the wall and he would continue to support each other for just a moment longer...

Garrity wrote:

"No promises," Zack answered with a smirk. "Sure you don't want to stick around to ground us if we misbehave, Mom?"

Josh just rolled his eyes and shook his head.

Seabay Florentine wrote:

The blind teen flashed Lia a smirk as she mentioned needing estrogen for company. "You can always sit with Marta for a bit. She's not neutered," he teased playfully. "Otherwise, we'll be good, Ma. Shawn breaks only mugs, I think, right? I don't think any of us are thinking of a scuffle."

"Well, then, I suppose that means Marta'll have to take over the guard and babysit you lot while I'm showering," Lia quipped back. "Be nice to her. She's not feeling well, meaning you guys should probably just sit still," she said, looking pointedly at Josh, "and listen."

With a quick wave over her shoulder, the dancer made her way to the bathroom, stopping to grab a change of clothes on the way. Thanks to Miss Kaitlyn's salve, her feet were looking and feeling better. She still, however, needed to go find some better shoes to wear. Perhaps she /should/ take Shawn up on going out to market. Unfortunately, she wasn't sure she trusted this place, or him, enough to go without at least one of her companions.

The idea that they had access to hot water, to running water at all, was still surprising to the teenager, and she half expected that nothing would happen when she turned the faucet. She almost squealed with glee when the water began flowing again.

Her shower was perhaps briefer than she would have liked to indulge, but it was more than she would have even dreamed of only a few days ago. When she emerged, dressed in clean clothes and towel-drying her hair, the girl returned to the room where her family was resting.

"I'm impressed. The hotel's still standing," she teased the boys. "So what's the plan, exactly?" she then asked, plopping into a chair across from Sebastian. "We staying in here all day today, then?"

"Okay, well, I am going to go get a few things ready. I'll wait a few if anyone decides they'd like to join me," he announced. With that said, Shawn was off to his room, checking his guns and ammo before he left to go back to the surface.

Josh waited where he was until Shawn exited the room, then sat there upon the floor, drawing his knees to his chest and putting his head down on top of them.

Yup... he was done...

"I think so," Zack answered Lia's question, frowning, as he pulled a chair over to his brother and moved toward the kitchen area to make coffee.

"I don't think we have much choice," Seabay sighed, carefully rising and taking dishes for cleaning. It wasn't the easiest chore for him, as his rod hit several things before he found the sink, and he was limping the whole way. "Josh is in no shape for going anywhere, and I can't without Marta... Well, I suppose one of you could guide me, but I'm not up to exploring yet myself. So that leaves you two, Lia, Zack... as you're the two in best shape here."

Quickly, yet efficiently, the blind teen scrubbed dishes with a bit of hand soap and a brush from under the sink, and set them aside to dry rather than hunt for a towel that might not be there. Then he turned to set his back to the sink counter, letting his hands air dry.

"Up to you if you two want to stick around with us invalids. Personally, I think it'd be a good idea for someone to poke around a bit and see just what we've got ourselves into, the layout of this place, the general feel for the people living here. I also think it'd be a good idea to take Shawn up on his offer sometime--for dinner where the regulars eat. Maybe not yet, but sometime, because it'd also be a good way to figure out our welcome and where we stand with him and this place in general. Miss Kaitlyn's answers sound almost too nice to be true..." He frowned, then sighed. "I, for one, would like to have that confirmed a bit more openly."

Turning to Josh, he smiled wryly, almost mischievously, for having caught the other teen where he likely shouldn't be. "You sound like you need to go back to bed for a bit, Josh. You're way too quiet there, by the floor. But thanks for standing by when Shawn was facing me."

Glancing toward Marta, the blind teen's shoulders slumped wearily. "I might do the same," he muttered under his breath, to himself, referring to returning to bed.