route_1065 | Life is ours, we live it our way

Entry tags:

Life is ours, we live it our way

Who: Isaac McDougal, Solf J Kimblee
Where: Ilex Forest
When: February 24th, sometime around ungodly o'clock at night
Summary: SLEEP IS CLEARLY FOR THE WEAK. Also getting awkwardly reacquainted with one another is much easier without pushy battling partners in one's face; it just doesn't make it any less...well, awkward.
Rating: G for the actual content, though both muns do have a tendency to turn the air blue in description, so...
Log:

After spending so many years more or less alone in the dark, Kimblee had come to accept that any patterns he may have had when it came to sleeping were completely shot and likely not going to be recovered very easily, if at all; given that he'd been spending all of his time with one person, that hadn't been much of an issue for long - due to the nature of solitary confinement, he had become accustomed to sleeping when he was expected to sleep as opposed to when he was actually physically drained, and as such after the first few days, his time spent in Johto had been on Archer's schedule.

But he was no longer with Archer - and it was almost nice, exactly how easily his routine had changed to accommodate his new partners.

Isaac and Kimblee tended to let Emmy have her privacy, not only due to her being the only woman, but the fact that even the embers of the fire burning itself out tended to provide too much light for Kimblee's liking in the otherwise pitch-dark forest; sleeping a good distance away provided both adequate darkness and a means to not wake Emmy up when they were both invariably awakened by something not long after falling asleep themselves.

Sleep came easily, at least as far as Kimblee was concerned; what with all the wild animals about and the occasional completely unexplained noise, it was getting sleep to last that was the trick. This particular evening wasn't an exception.

He wasn't even sure what woke him up; some harsh sound that registered in his mind without leaving a name for future reference. Horribly rude, really; either way, once he'd startled awake and gone through the usual routine - trying to see if there was anything immediately present that was going to murder them all, discovering that there was not, ensuring that Dorian was still curled up and completely ~~useless~~ asleep next to him, then quietly punching the hell out of those layers he tended to lie on in annoyance - he pushed himself up from where he had been lying, sitting up and locating the white ribbon he used to tie his hair up.

There was no sense in leaving it to fall in his face, and he would likely be up for a while besides; he had only been travelling with Isaac for a few days, but it had been long enough to know that after...whatever noise that had been, he probably wasn't the only one awake.

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No, Kimblee wasn't the only one startled awake by that noise. Any ability Isaac might have had to sleep through anything died back in Ishval. He had to be prepared to leave at a moment's notice while running from the military too. Old habits die hard.

Isaac never traveled with other people. Everything he had done had been on his own. It was nice to travel with other people for once, but that made sleeping arrangements difficult. Isaac had been sleeping further away, mostly in an attempt to ensure the other two wouldn't hear him get up.

Evidently whatever it was that woke Isaac up woke Kimblee as well. He tied his hair back before rising to greet Kimblee quietly, "What the hell was that?"

Edited 2012-02-24 16:18 (UTC)

That may have worked, were Kimblee not approximately as sensitive to noise as Isaac is; oversensitivity to it or not, however, normally he was content to leave it and attempt to go back to sleep. But by this point...well. He hardly saw any sense in it.

Besides, Isaac's sudden presence negated any urges he may have had to do that, to say nothing of the ability; he glanced up at him before shooting his gaze downward again, tipping his head forward while he finished tying his hair up.

"I can't say that I know, though I doubt it was anything terribly out of the ordinary. I think this one" - and he shot a rather pointed glance at Dorian while he finished with his hair, the ponytail settling lightly between his shoulderblades as he released it - "would have awakened otherwise."

He shifted his gaze to Isaac again, his expression wry. "At the very least, I'd hope he would; he isn't that useless, and if nothing else, he wouldn't get breakfast if we're all dead."

"True enough. He'd be pretty disappointed at that." Isaac returned the expression. He turned away from their campsite and walked further into the woods, flexing his hands a bit. The array on his palm was useless now, but he still considered that his primary line of defense, should something happen. Even without his alchemy he can still take care of himself.

"You coming? There's no sense in staying here; we'll just wake Emmy up."

Kimblee had had no intention of staying put, even if Isaac hadn't said anything; had the other man wanted to be alone for whatever reason, there still would have been a matter of tiring himself out to contend with. As such, he was already waking Dorian up when Isaac turned away; though he had initially had his doubts that it would be a terribly smart idea to jostle something that could spit fire at his face at any given moment and he'd been wary of these creatures since the incident with his starter, he knew how Dorian operated by now. (Namely, he didn't, until he was offered either food or something to do.) And so a decent amount of shaking had commenced, resulting in Dorian yawning and rolling over to look at Kimblee with the most annoyed look that a very sleepy fire-fox could manage before he stood up, stretching as he went.

That...not-invitation from Isaac managed to amuse Kimblee, however, a rather entertained smirk crossing his features as he stood up to follow. "Of course, Isaac."

Edited 2012-02-24 16:50 (UTC)

Ilex Forest was one of the nicest areas he had been through in Johto. It reminded him of home - back when he had a home to return to. That might explain why he had been in a better mood for a little while now. Of course, the forest was hardly the best place to try to get some sleep, but Isaac was fine with that. He never needed very much sleep to begin with.

"Nice night," The comment is out there before he thought about it. He always tried to think things through before opening his mouth, but he was strangely more relaxed around Kimblee. Isaac doesn't know why. Kimblee laughed him out of Central Prison back home; why would he be okay with this man now? Kimblee could have helped him stop Bradley's plans...!

It doesn't matter now. They're both dead back home.

Kimblee tipped his head a bit in acknowledgement of that statement, seeing nothing awkward about it in the least. "This area is prone to them, really; I spent quite some time here a few weeks ago, before the snowfall picked up - not that that seems to matter quite as much here."

There had been some light snow in the area, but at least the trees had done a good job of providing sufficient cover, given how dense they were; the paths were the only place particularly coated with it. The rest of the area had found itself patched with white here and there, but for the most part were surprisingly clear.

A nice night, indeed.

Edited 2012-02-24 17:09 (UTC)

Isaac nodded, but that was the only response he gave. There wasn't anything else to say to that. This was how most of his conversations went; they ended in awkward silence because he should have responded when he didn't, or he responded when he shouldn't have.

The small lake within the forest came into view, and Isaac immediately turned toward it. He had always been fascinated by water - it was why his alchemy was water-based. He doesn't say anything when he arrived at the shore. He picked up a small stone and tossed it from one hand to the other.

"I guess it's good that the snow's stopped." That much is true; he was still wearing the military uniform with the ripped sleeve. Isaac hadn't seen any need to get it fixed, or to purchase any other clothes. He had the spare set that was in his pack when he arrived; he didn't need anything else.

Isaac tossed the rock across the surface of the water; it skid a few times before sinking. "Was the winter bad here?"

Kimblee definitely heard the question, though his attention wasn't focused on Isaac; his gaze instead was on the lake and the stone's interaction with it, the slight disturbances from the skips sending light ripples out across the surface before it finally submerged itself, disappearing entirely into the water.

Memory was a funny thing, really - his skills with it were naturally enhanced, but skills nonetheless, requiring focus in order to reach full potential. But once in a while, something just...struck him for no reason; he suspected this was one of those things. Not that he knew why - the night was pretty, yes, but overall nothing out of the ordinary.

The thought was gone almost as soon as it had occurred to him; something to be filed away for later. For the time being, he laughed a bit, the sound light. "I'm not the best to ask; I spent quite some time before coming here up north, at Fort Briggs. In comparison to that, it was mild."

That said, he slipped his hands into his pockets anyway. The night air was rather chilled, and he didn't like leaving his gloves on to sleep; he hadn't bothered to find them again when he had awakened. "It was rather cold, though, all things considering; there was a fair amount of snow. I enjoyed it."

He pauses for a moment; Isaac had said a few nights ago that he didn't know anything about him. "I suppose being from the north myself has something to do with that, though."

"Briggs, huh? What were you doing all the way up there?" Kimblee fascinated him during the Ishval War - that hadn't changed any. He didn't know anything about Kimblee; that was clear. The statement is simple, but Isaac wondered if that was Kimblee's way of inviting him to ask.

"So you're from up north? What was that like?" It was a broad question, but Isaac preferred listening to talking anyway. He was certain Kimblee remembered that from Isvhal.

Kimblee didn't say anything for a moment, though it was less through not wanting to answer and more that he had to take a moment to figure out how to answer. He'd kept most of the details surrounding his activities following Isaac's death intentionally vague; he did know how to pick his battles, and there were some things that he simply preferred not to fight about.

Perhaps it was a mark of how his time in Johto had changed him; he didn't know, and he didn't care to dwell on it. He just knew that they would fight about it, when the time came; he couldn't keep secrets from Isaac forever.

Just...it wasn't the time yet.

"There was a man known as 'Scar' to most of the general population; he was an Ishvalan insurgent, murdering the State Alchemists who had taken part in the war. I imagine you've heard about him, it was a bit difficult not to. He needed to be stopped; I was tracking him down. My search led me to Fort Briggs."

He paused for a moment, bending to pick up one of those stones lying along the side of the lake; he turned it over in his hand for a moment, almost as though assessing it, before tossing it out, sending it skittering across the surface for a short distance before it dropped beneath the water.

"It did allow me to return to North City for a while, however - that would be where I'm from. It's...rather beautiful up there, though it does tend to be incredibly dull; I can't say that I miss it very much, as it was still rather dull when I returned."

Isaac listened silently, watching as Kimblee throws the stone. "Yeah, I remember hearing about that. He was after State Alchemists, right?" He couldn't say he disapproved of Scar's attempts, but at the same time he had never had any interest in helping him. Scar was small-time in comparison to what Isaac had discovered.

He picked up another rock, tossing and catching this one instead of skipping it across the water's surface. "Why did you return? Do you have family in the area or something?"

What did he know about Kimblee? Isaac frowned at the idea that he really didn't know anything. He felt close to Kimblee despite that; but perhaps that was just how he had handled the war. He had latched onto Kimblee as some sort of mentor and hadn't let go, even now, seven years later. It wasn't a nice realization.

"Well, it was primarily because research needed to be done regarding Scar's whereabouts; I had received information that he may have been in the area, and I continued to work from there until I was able to track him down. My stay there was brief; more for business than for pleasure."

He paused for a moment after that, giving Isaac a bit of a strange look; it wasn't disapproving, just...considering, perhaps.

"As for family, I do have a sister there; she's five years younger than I am, and understandably disinterested in reconnecting after the incident in Ishval."

Isaac nodded again. More for business than for pleasure. That summed up what he'd been doing for the past seven years as well. He doesn't feel the need to say anything in response to that.

"Yeah? I guess that's understandable."

He wasn't interested in talking about that, though. Everyone else had the right idea about Kimblee; somehow or other he was the only one who was mistaken. That hadn't changed anything. He was still interested in learning more about Kimblee, even now that he knew just how crazy Kimblee was.

Isaac wasn't sure what that said about himself.

"Sorry to hear that."

Kimblee shook his head. "Don't be."

He slipped his hands back into his pockets then, the gesture casual. "If anything, Isaac, I'm surprised you aren't also taking that sort of stance - our last meeting in Amestris wasn't a pleasant one for you, and regardless of whether it affects anything here or not, most wouldn't be willing to ignore that."

It wasn't a challenge, just a statement; more commentary on the situation than seeking an argument.

Isaac remained silent for several minutes, thinking about how to properly answer that statement. He wasn't sure what to say.

"I know. I thought I wouldn't want anything to do with you when you first contacted me. But you were someone familiar in an unfamiliar place and... I don't know. It doesn't really matter here, I guess."

That much was true. Kimblee had done a lot of horrible things in the past, but that was in Amestris, not Johto. It wasn't likely that Kimblee had changed his ways, but he hadn't done anything here. Maybe he was being too forgiving.

...But it was really nice to be on good terms with Kimblee again.

"Well, yes, I suppose." Kimblee paused, considering; though it was a logical enough progression, the answer still didn't quite make sense to him. "It's hardly a good sort of familiarity, though, isn't it?"

Edited 2012-02-24 20:54 (UTC)

"If it wasn't a good sort of familiarity, why would I travel with you instead of someone like Armstrong or Hughes? They're both familiar too."

Though, to be fair, Isaac didn't know the answer to his own question. There was just something about Kimblee that he liked. Kimblee was interesting, but then again, so were Hughes and Armstrong.

And then there was...well. A good amount of wide-eyed staring, really. "Well, that's a fair point, but that wasn't quite what I was referring to."

It was becoming rather clear that they weren't on the same page. At all. All right, a different tactic, perhaps?

"Is there a reason the familiarity is such a good one for you, despite our last...discussion in Amestris?"

"You helped me out in Ishval. That was... a really difficult time for me. I guess... I'm willing to look past what happened the last time we spoke in Amestris because of that?"

That seemed to be the case, at any rate. Isaac shrugged. "It doesn't matter here anyway."

Their time in Ishval certainly did explain a good amount, despite the fact that the time they had spent together there had been reasonably short; they had been assigned to the same district shortly after Isaac had arrived, before Kimblee had been sent into the Kanda district after the Rockbells. It wasn't that he thought Isaac had forgotten the discussions that had occurred there, but...

"I see." His voice was quiet, though it was in a way that was more contemplative than bothered. "I didn't realize that was still so important to you - I mean, surely at the time, yes. I understand that much. But now...?"

Again Isaac didn't respond right away. The silence lasted too long, but he wasn't sure how to break it. As usual, he wasn't sure what to say.

"...I still like spending time with you, Kimblee."

It was such a simplistic statement, but it was true. Isaac caught the rock a final time and moved to brush the usual loose strand of hair out of his face. "You mean... a lot to me, Kimblee. I'm... not really sure how to describe it."

...That...likely wasn't good.

Perhaps the recent fighting with Archer had made him overly suspicious - a bit too wary of what that sort of statement could mean, willing to read a bit too far into those sorts of statements to begin with - but the fact remained that it set warning bells off in his head, loud and sharp and completely unable to be ignored. The long pause before Isaac had said it definitely wasn't helping matters, either.

As such, it takes him a bit too long to realize exactly what his face is doing - he isn't glaring, but he's obviously displeased with the turn the conversation has taken; as soon as he realizes, though, he seems to settle a good amount, his expression shifting into something decidedly more relaxed. Casual, even.

"Well, I'm flattered, then." He wasn't. He really wasn't, and no matter how genuine his tone was when he said it, he suspected it still came off as unnatural, with a sort of deliberateness to it that he wasn't quite able to force out of his words.

...thankfully, he was spared from having to figure out how to salvage it by the sound of the Gear going off. It was obnoxious, really, though Kimblee had long since lost the ability to tell if it was naturally obnoxious or just coming across that way because of exactly how much he had been hearing it.

He waited until the actual sound had stopped before finding the stupid thing; he wasn't about to answer it while it was active, given that he knew well enough who was calling. And sure enough...it was a video message this time, and decidedly different from the yelling over voice that Archer had been subjecting him to all day. No, Archer actually looked flustered in the message he's leaving this time; it was immediately obvious that he hadn't slept in a while, as much as he was trying to hide that fact.

Kimblee couldn't exactly bring himself to care.

I don't know what you want from me. How can I fix this?

"Goddamn it, Archer..." The words were quiet, muttered under his breath, but still incredibly annoyed.

Edited 2012-02-24 21:55 (UTC)

What did he do? Isaac didn't look hurt exactly, but he certainly did look confused. He frowned at Kimblee's words. That sounded like he was just saying it. He had never been good at determining when people were lying to him, but Kimblee did seem to be a bit easier to read.

The phone went off and Isaac jumped a bit. He settled back quickly enough, shooting a glare at the phone when Kimblee pulled it out. He didn't say anything, listening as Kimblee complained softly.

Isaac finally moved, reaching out to grab the phone from Kimblee with no provocation. He didn't hold onto it for too long, instead turning and tossing it straight into the lake.

Kimblee froze as the Gear was grabbed out of his hands; he knew that he really should have done, well, just about anything else on reflex, given that hesitating certainly hadn't gotten him anything in the past outside of a steel pipe through far too many of his internal organs, but the action was so unexpected - had it been anyone but Isaac he might have seen it coming, but as it stood? No.

"Isaac, what are you - " The words died quickly, rendered unnecessary as Isaac's next action answered the question for him far more efficiently than anything he could have said.

Oh. Oh, well, that was...

...Oh.

Isaac had never lashed out quite like that in Ishval - but it had been seven years since then. Things had changed.

"Problem solved."

He was smirking slightly though, clearly he had considered doing that for quite some time. It was about time he got to spend some time with Kimblee uninterrupted.

...He wasn't sure why he wanted to spend time with Kimblee, but that wasn't the point.

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