@russo ( text ) | backdated to july 17(?)

[jigsawn]

found a village

( he has attached the map with the approximate location of the village marked — coordinates and all. so, don't @ him for not saying more.

eta; oh yeah, so his exploration thread is still ongoing which means he may or may not provide new information as it progresses. only time will tell. )

Comments

[hext]

i know i'm not.

i thought i was your friend.

[jigsawn]

( well, let's not get ahead of ourselves.

he wouldn't be able to beat raylan at lassoing. probably. )

something tried to grab my leg

tossed a stone in the water to test it out, turned my back and whatever it was threw it back at me

( hit him right in the back of the head too. )

[jigsawn]

( he is just going to stare at her text for a while and then— )

i don't have friends ( sorry, the notion of friendship is complicated for him right now. )

[jigsawn]

( he doesn't know you can't read

let him know and he'll switch to voice! and lbr probably teach you )

i'll help ( literally only because gene was the one who'd brought it up )

what other projects?

[chardismastic]

[ That's true, you can tell by the hat he wears. ]

oh
fantastic

future note shit like that may be something you want to mention earlier in the conversation

[jigsawn]

( it's a great hat tbh

he really does need that shrug emoji because all rafe is going to get is radio silence now. )

[hext]

[ there's half a moment where she almost disintegrates. it's a blow, and she could so easily recede back into the husk she was not all that long ago, the weird one who was alone but for pietro, the skin she shed that still holds her shape. she can feel the dry, course, fragile casing creep up around her shoulders.

but wanda's been through worse things now than petulant soldiers with PTSD and a side dish of second death wishes. she's lost everyone she's loved the most; she's killed and she's died. she's died several times this week, thanks to the fucking cemetary that decided to add a whole new dimension to the question if you die in the dream, do you die in real life?

she pulls up her boots and glares down at the screen, even if her chin is trembling, just barely. ]

you didn't before you came here.
you do now. even if it is just me. one friend. man up and deal with it.

[jigsawn]

( he doesn't have the capacity to take other people's feelings into consideration these days. it's difficult enough stabilizing his own emotions as it stands, so if he comes off insensitive and/or indifferent, it's just him trying to keep his shit together.

he isn't opposed to forming connections and alliances here, but he has very little interest in making friends or getting too close to anybody in this place. it just doesn't seem very practical for him at this point. not the way he is now.

he needs to get a handle on himself first before he can even consider letting someone in again. )

why do you even care? we barely know each other

[hext]

[ it doesn't throw her in the least. the response is simple enough for her: ]

why not?

[jigsawn]

don't you think you're a bit too trusting?

( u don't know him u don't know his life wanda )

PRIVATE FINALLY. VOICE.

[hext]

[ wanda clicks forcefully over to voice, half of her sigh captured in the entrance to transmission. ]

—This has nothing to do with whether I could not handle you if you turned out to be a gauntlet-wearing purple-skinned megalomaniac.

[ she knows she's mentioned thanos to him but not exactly in those terms so just BREEZE PAST IT BUDDY she's making a sassy point (also she could have handled him if Thor had aimed right but since when can the Russos write Thor— META TEXT GETTING TOO META ABORT ABORT). ]

You saw how I died. You saw who I had to kill. Do you think I would not put you down if I had to?
The point is — I don't. Not today.

And I have learned that getting to know someone... becoming friends. You take it one day at a time. Or night, as the case may be.

[ a beat, and another, as her fingertips flicker contemplatively over the screen. ]

I am not asking for your secrets, Billy. I am not trying to unmask you, I promise.
I just... [ she sighs, ] ...missed you.

Leave me a note next time.

@helsing

[kungfuey]

How'd you get across the river?

[preseance]

( his tone is light an' just the slightest bit canted to jest, )

They teach you boys how to use a hammer the right way around?

( gotta get that #branchrivalry in there somewhere. )

Helpin' some of the kids with buildin' boats as well. Little outside my purview, but I ain't averse to a challenge.

[jigsawn]

( this cheeky brat.

he still feels way too much respect for gene's generation of veterans to diss on them. )

they sure did
right around the time you were in grade school ( doesn't mean he can't poke fun at his age though )

boats?

[jigsawn]

rope

crawled across

[preseance]

( he laughs. )

Then you oughta know my generation barely went to grade school, El-Tee.

( the depression an' all. weren't nothin' else for it. he ain't the only boy in love company that can't hardly read. )

An' yeah. To explore the river, or maybe the lake later on.

@Grandmaster

[paletteswap]

Habitable?

private ( text )

[jigsawn]

( he witnessed a good number of deaths, but wanda's was definitely one of the harder memories to shake off. even after seeing the news coverage of the alien invasion in new york and meeting the bizarre beings found in beacon, billy was still thrown by the sight of thanos.

and then there's the way she had died...

he has little doubt in his mind that wanda can protect herself, but that isn't the issue here. she may find some comfort in friendship, but for him, it brings forth nothing but painful memories and a guilt that will only continue to eat away inside of him. )

fine ( he'll leave a note next time. it's the most she'll get out of him. )

[jigsawn]

yes

[jigsawn]

( lt. cute. )

did you go at all?

[...]

keep me posted on how the projects progress
i might stick around here for a while longer

[paletteswap]

Are you still there?

[jigsawn]

yes

( he is a man of many words. )

[paletteswap]

Need any assistance?

[chardismastic]

[ Okay, your report card is definitely going to read "doesn't play well with others". ]

[preseance]

Me? ( with absolute innocence, ) Oh, no sir. I was too busy doin' whatever it is you New Yorkers think we Alabama boys get up to in our spare time. Goin' to Church an' eatin' fried green tomatoes an' pokin' snakes with sticks or somethin'. School right conflicted with all'a that.

( some stereotypes exist across time an' space. gene absolutely knows that new yorkers think alabamians are ass-backward hillbillies. )

Yessir. Keep me posted about what's goin' on over there too, if'n you don't mind. Pretty sure we covered river crossin' at Fort Benning if you've need of me.