genessia | 001 | Accidental Video

[ The why and the how, Ronan would focus on later. He was breathing, his clothes at seven bullet holes clean through them with dried blood clinging to the edges, but he didn't and he was in a cave.

So, the initial examination had given him some pretty startling information: someone had retrieved his body from the morgue, found a way to what? Resurrect him? Then they'd shoved him in a coffin with a cell phone and how-to manual, and stored his new bed in a cave somewhere.

He fiddled with the settings on the phone per the instructions, and accidentally turned on the video transmission as he continued to think out loud. His attention to detail was usually more thorough, but give a guy a break. He was dead the last time he checked. ]

...didn't even have the decency to give a man a change of clothes.

[ He shook his head and looked around for something in the pod he'd just vacated for a moment before reaching in and pulling out a weathered fedora and placing it on his head. ]

At least they remembered th- [ His eyes dart toward the communicator he'd set down, noticing the blinking. ] What do you know? I did get it working.

[ He runs a hand over his face before he picks up the device, giving a slight, if-lopsided, smile. ]

I can only assume there's others out there, right? Why give a man a cell phone if there's nobody to receive it? [ He rubbed at his eyes with a free hand, then begins patting first the clear side of his chest, then the side with the bullet holes before reaching into a pocket with a hole in it and retrieving a box of ruined cigarettes. ] Really? Come on. [ He shakes his head and looks back to the feed. ]

My name's Ronan O'Connor. I'm a detective with the Salem Police Department...in...Salem, Massachusetts. Tell me that rings a bell with somebody.

[ And, more directly, as though something suddenly occurs to him. ]

Can any of you even see me?

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...I like it, and quitting's not that easy.

[God, if he could go back and just...not fight over it.]

[Liking it seems like an answer enough but then he mentions quitting and Terra's back to being confused. The questions begin to slip from her lips before her thoughts have a chance to catch up.]

Do you want to quit?

[He's quiet for a moment, watching the smoke curl from the tip of his cigarette.]

Sometimes, but...it helps me think.

[Terra watches the smoke with quiet fascination before pulling her eyes back to the man behind the brightly lit cigarette.]

I guess that's alright.

[She pauses and thinks about the flames from her nightmares.]

As long as it doesn't hurt you.

[He chuckles, a sick, melancholy sound.]

They say it causes cancer. [Ronan, if she doesn't know what a cigarette is, she might not know what cancer is, either.] It's an incurable and usually deadly disease of the lungs.

[Terra blinks, this is the first time she's heard of cancer.]

Incurable? You can heal it? Even with magic?

[Her world is a little different from his. Magic isn't common in Terra's world but it's something that the half Esper was born with.]

[His brow furrows at that.]

Hell if I know. We don't have magic where I come from...at least...not that I know of. There's a...spirit world, overlaying the living world, and a...some kind of afterlife beyond, but I don't know about magic.

[Terra isn't sure what to say to that. She knows that in some worlds magic is hated but he seems truly indifferent about it. She closes her eyes for a moment and shakes her head letting her ringlets settle before she said something more.]

Should you need healing I have magic...

[Healing spells do nothing against the common cold.]

... Um... I still don't think you should smoke...

[She's generally against things that hurt people.]

Uh, alright. [He pauses.] Thanks. [I have no idea what 'healing magic' does, okay.]

[Terra nods slightly.]

If you need anything please let me know. I work in a flower shop in Attleton.

[Which she also owns and lives above.]

Flower shop, Attledon. [He gives her a nod at if to say he'll remember that.] And I'll stop by if I need any flowers.

[Terra nods and then is silent for a moment. She's honestly out of things to say and she's very bad at goodbyes.]

...

I should leave you be then.

Edited 2015-11-21 17:30 (UTC)

[Ronan frowns at the feed for a second.]

You're not bothering me or anything.

I'm sorry.

[There is a slight pause before she continues.]

I'm not very good at talking to others.

[Then another thought enters her mind and her cheeks quickly tint a rosy pink.]

I didn't introduce myself... I'm Terra Branford.

Well, it's nice to meet you, Terra, and I think you're doing just fine.

[He offers her a slight smile.]

Don't be so hard on yourself.

[It's difficult for Terra not to be hard on herself. There is a lot that she wants to do, that she feel she should be able to do and yet every single time she feels as if she comes up short. There is so much that she doesn't know or wasn't taught.

She isn't about to divulge her worries so she nods, trying her best to smile.]

Thank you. It's been nice meeting you too.

[Her fingers fidget on the phone and the screen shifts slightly.]

...Excuse me.

[There is a brief moment where Terra is looking down and then another when a brown ear pops into view on the screen. Then there is a little nose and then two dark eyes inspecting the phone curiously.]

Sorry. This is Eevee. He wanted to see what I was doing.

[It isn't as if Terra often talks to herself.]

[Okay, that thing looks weird, but he just woke up in a weird coffin after being dead for a few hours, so he's not questioning anything right now.]

Huh, it's cute.

[There is the slightest curl of Terra's lips as she looks down at the little Eevee in her lap.]

He is.

[She truly loves animals and she has more than a few cats and pokemon at her flower shop.]

He and a few others live with me here.

[It makes it a little less lonely.]

[Terra, does that mean you're a crazy "whatever-that-is" lady? I think it does.]

So you have a lot of pets?

[She might be a little bit recluse but she owns the flower shop and at least has one other employees there... sometimes.

She needs to leave her house more but she doesn't have a reason to go anywhere else.]

I have a few. Creatures called Pokemon just arrived out of nowhere and then I offered to help the animal shelter to keep some of the pets after their building was destroyed.

[Those are perfectly logical reasons to have a lot of pets around.]

Wait. [He actually knows that word.] Pokemon are...real?

[She's only just learned what they are.]

Yes, for about a month, they just showed up... [She looks down at Eevee who yawns and curls up on her lap.]

We needed special items to keep them.

[Terra wanted to keep all of them.]

Weird.

[Yeah, he's pretty sure they're from some kids show...from Japan...]

And you kept 'em?

[Terra looks noticeably confused.]

Is that strange?

[They are really nice and some of them even help take care of her flower shop and garden. Dragonair will sometimes water the plants so that Terra doesn't have to.]

Uh...no. I mean, pets are good. [I never had one, but you know, whatever.]

I was just confirming.

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