video; un: Clyde

[darknstormy]

[ The video shook a little before finally landing on his face. Well, the profile of his face. Seth had turned it on without realizing then stepped away. He glanced back, catching something moving in his peripheral.

Shit.

[ A look of illumination graced his features and he stopped his approach to turn off the feed. Seth cleared his throat, his expression more accepting of their surrounding circumstance than his frustrated focus of seconds ago. What could he say? He was glad to have a speaking voice again. Might as well put it to use. ]

If there's somethin' that getting sucked from one mess to another's taught me, it's that nothin' lasts forever. All this shit's temporary... I couldn't talk soon after ending up here. My better half couldn't hear. And some of you got acquainted with the pain in the ass who lives with us, Leo. --Who by the way, can't exactly help what he is and didn't fuckin' ask to be made but still lives buy a code. But I digress...

[ Seth sat back after the brief introduction of sorts. ]

I'm Seth. Seth Gecko. You've already met Leo on here. As my Bonnie once called him, 'a walkin'-talkin' after shave commercial' who sang for you. Margo hasn't graced you all with an appearance yet but that's probably thanks to the roller coaster we've been through since arriving. She'll no doubt talk about magic when she does. Me? Well, I'm just a run of the mill guy from Kansas City. No powers, though not too bad with a piece.

[ He leaned forward and pulled out a gun tucked at the small of his back, brought it to view then returned it. ]

So if I haven't bored you all to hell yet, maybe some of who's left can enlighten me on what life's been like here? It seems the breaking up into islands is something new. Before ending up here, the three of us were at a place in France--or at least, it seemed French--that nobody could make a sound or chance gettin' torn apart by monsters.

Anybody sharin' insight about life here, you've earned yourself some manual labor. Or anythin' else I can come up with.

[ He offered an expectant look at the end. Not quite a smile, but a signature move when trying to get something without the means to obtain it otherwise. ]

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video;

[64th]

[ she laughs when he gets a little mad. now that reminds her of Richie. no use torturing the new guy though, and she flips on her own camera. she's grinning, which probably makes her kind of an asshole. oh well. ]

He used to be here. We were friends. Kind of. There was some mutual disdain. [ she offers a half shrug. ] You know how he is.

He went home or wherever a while ago.

[darknstormy]

[ He didn't take her laughter as she was laughing at him but amused at his response. In fact, if he had seen his brother recently then Seth might've laughed at her description of him. The mystery woman was on point.

Also blonde like the Marshal's daughter but definitely not her. ]

Richard used to be here?

[ Seth swallowed, wishing maybe she had known him from back home. It was a stupid thought given he could count all the women who knew Richie well enough to describe him on one hand. Missing a couple of fingers at that.

Maybe that was a little harsh.

Rigidness transitioned into Seth's shoulders falling at being told Richie was no longer around. ]

He's... Richard. [ A sigh left him. His eyes had fallen but picked up. ]
How long ago?

[ Maybe while Seth and Margo got sucked into Reims, Richard had somehow come here. It was a stupid thought considering Seth had arrived right out of Reims and the blonde just said 'a while ago'. Seth was kind of stupid hopeful when it came to family. ]

[64th]

[ she pauses a moment - it's strange how fast time seems to pass, and yet it always feels like those she knew haven't been gone long. ]

He's been gone nearly a year. Sorry I don't have better news. [ she does look sorry about it. she has a brother. she can imagine his disappointment to know that he's managed to miss his. ] That's how it works here. People come and go.

Except for me. I've been here going on three years.

[darknstormy]

A year?

[ He couldn't help but immediately repeat. No. That wasn't right. Richie was with him a year ago. Yet... there weren't any signs of this dame lying. In fact, she even seemed... sorry?

Seth unconsciously raised a hand and scratched at the back of his head then dropped it, fighting off the urge to feel defeated. ]

Who knows how this shit works. I was just somewhere before here and found a Kate who didn't know anythin' about the time I saw her last.

[ His demeanor tried to shake off the emotions rising from missing his brother. Richie was back home with Kate, taking care of each other. Seth had to believe that.

He looked into the video feed. ]

So you two were friends, huh?

[ A hint of mischief was in his eyes at the question, corner of his mouth curling the slightest bit upward. ]

[64th]

[ she laughs again, louder this time. ] Sometimes. He's stubborn. We didn't always see eye to eye but were pretty good at finding each others exposed nerves.

He knew all my secrets. [ Cashmere's expression softens. she'd been mad at the time. how could she have been anything but mad? he'd found her Capitol commemorative book, read it cover to cover, and put it up for sale in his pawn shop. ] And he kept them. [ he'd given over the book pretty easily, after making a show of having it in the first place. ]

He's an ass. [ one that she's more fond of than she would ever have let on with Richie, but she thinks that's mutual. ] And he talked about you a lot.

[darknstormy]

[ Her laugh was infectious but it was the bit about finding each other's nerves that finally made Seth grin. Richie was really good at that. Stubborn too. Both were Gecko traits. Sometimes not for the best, the way their old man would treat them. It was Richie who found ways to keep Ray from killing Seth.

Listening to the blonde mystery woman made him less somber over his brother. ]

Bein' an ass is somethin' of a family trait.

[ Seth chuckled bitterly. His eyes fell away momentarily. If Richie knew all her secrets then she knew some of his. Theirs. Between the brothers, the younger wasn't the emotional type. Everything had some kind of logic to it. But even Richie knew the importance of human relationships. Proof of that was being told that he had talked about him.

With a shake of his head, amused, Seth glanced back up. ]

Oh, I can't wait to hear this.

[64th]

[ she knows a little about Richie's before-Hadriel life, but not as much as he knew about hers. maybe if he'd been around longer... ]

He cares about you a lot. You must have been though some real shit together, because he seems to feel about you the way I feel about my brother. I know he wanted to find you. Together's always better, right? Even in a place like this.

[darknstormy]

[ It wasn't a surprise or disappointment that she couldn't recite a memory when asked. Seth didn't fully expect her to. He was the storyteller between them, Richie was the statistician. The younger Gecko would bore the elder constantly. Seth wished he was bored, sitting there and thinking about his brother. ]

I'd give my right arm for him. That's why I've got the ink on it, for him and the shit we've been through.

[ Seth left out how the tattoo once stopped at his upper arm until Richie became a vampire and bit him, then the flames traveled up his neck to cover the scars of the puncture wounds left.

If it'd been just a year that this woman saw Richie, he would've been a culebra then. ]

Guessin' your brother ain't around here either?

[64th]

[ she can't help but feel a little fondness for anyone who has that kind of sibling bond. it's the comfort of knowing there are people just like her, even worlds away.

Cash shakes her head at his question. ] No, I haven't seen Gloss in a very long time. Not the real him, anyway. Sometimes we see people from home here, but it's not always real. It's just the gods trying to get what they want. I'm sure you'll see what I mean before too long.

[darknstormy]

[ Seth swallowed thickly at what she explained. He had enough experiences seeing things that weren't there thanks to battling demons and monsters. They had picked on everything from his lousy childhood to more current events. His eyes narrowed slightly while mulling over the info.

His head picked up when he spoke again. ]

Not lookin' forward to that. Appreciate the head's up though.

[ He decided to go back to what she shared about her brother. ]

Gloss, huh? Tell me your name ain't Lip.

[ It was a terrible joke but Seth wanted to break from the depressing shit they were sharing. He held an impish smirk, waiting her response. ]

[64th]

[ she rolls her eyes, but she's clearly more amused than annoyed. ]

It's Cashmere. I'm named after my grandfather. Not a sweater, as Richard liked to say.

[darknstormy]

I mean, he wouldn't be wrong.

[ There was a full impish smirk at the reply. ]

But I'd be surprised if he didn't call you Cash. It's one of his favorite things.

[64th]

Well, I'm the only cash of any kind here, and very much not his favorite type of cash. [ she grins. ] You can call me Cash, though. Most people do.

[darknstormy]

[ He'd have to smack Richie upside the head when he saw him if his brother opted to give Cashmere a hard time rather than be something more with the beautiful blonde. She seemed exactly like the contrast that could get the younger Gecko over his ex, at least Seth thought so. ]

C'mon, you're tellin' me he didn't mention Tango and Cash? I mean, it's not an all time favorite but I can't believe Richie woulda passed up the chance to talk movies.

Or are you not a fan of the flick?

[64th]

[ maybe another time Seth can hear about the the time gods made them all thing they lived in a sweet little suburb, and Cash and Richie were married. it was very weird. it's still weird.

she shakes her head at his questions. ]

There aren't many movies where I'm from. [ that's half true, but no need to get into the full story. ]

[darknstormy]

Yeah? Where's that?

[ It wasn't unusual to run into someone who wasn't into movies the way the Gecko brothers were. Margo and Leo had to suffer through a number of references. So he shifted to small talk, wanting to learn about the woman who befriended Richie. ]

[64th]

We call it Panem. It's nowhere that you'd ever be so unlucky as to end up. [ to put it mildly. ] If you live outside the Capitol, like I did, you don't get much exposure to anything besides government-run media. Our lives are fairly simple. My phone was still attached to the wall.

[darknstormy]

[ His head tilted to a side. She didn't sound like she had an accent that he picked up. Her words weren't giving to a specific era either. Seth showed the question on his features. ]

That somewhere overseas? [ A beat passed when he realized another important question to ask. ] What year was it before you got pulled here?

[64th]

[ Cashmere's accent is really only noticeable to someone from Panem. she's been told she otherwise sounds American.

she laughs at his question. overseas. sure. close enough. ] Yeah, something like that. The year is harder to explain. We don't have the same time system as you do. Seventy-five years after the Dark Days is the best I can tell you.

[darknstormy]

[ Life outside of the Capitol, phone attached to a wall, simpler days yet some place called Panem and seventy-five years after the Dark Days... He was lost. If she knew Richie then Cashmere had to know the Gecko brothers were from Earth. Seth opted to let the subject go. ]

Right.

[ Confusion left his features at starting another subject. ]

Soooo, Cash Money... [ He held a smirk. ] What kinda trouble can I get into here?