and they were roommates

[friendsfordinner]

Who: Hickey & Jesus
When: early in the Connectivity event
Where: Apartment block A3
Summary: oh my god they were roommates
Warnings: n/a will edit if needed

It's been odd having no roommates. Nice, but a little odd. He had to take care of George's stuff: anything that anybody else didn't want (either for sentimental reasons or practical ones) he boxed up and shoved in a corner of an unused room. Maybe he could sell it. It's some decent stuff and he could always use the money. Nick's stuff got the same treatment, different box, same corner of the same room.

The lack of roommates means that Hickey got to buy all the food he wanted (good!) but also had to do the apartment cleaning (bad!) and figure out how the washing machine works (even worse!). He's sitting on the couch, looking over an instruction manual, trying to figure out what the hell a spin cycle even is, when the door opens and his (unknown to him) new roommate enters the apartment.

Hickey looks up, looks over Jesus, then very bluntly asks, "Who the hell are you?"

Comments

[lobster_bib]

"Whoa," Jesus holds up a hand to show he's unarmed. The other hand is still resting on the doorknob, in case he needs to duck out fast and slam it behind him.

Hopefully it won't come to that. He smiles. "I'm Jesus. I live here now. You must be...Cornelius?"

[friendsfordinner]

"Everybody calls me Hickey," he points out, with a little shrug. Right. New roommate. He might have gotten a memo on that but honestly, Hickey's very shit at actually reading his mail so even if he got a memo, it didn't get read. He's still sitting on the couch but blatantly looks over Jesus, sizing him up with a frown.

He can take him. That's what matters most.

"But yeah, that's me." He lets out a small chuckle before, "They didn't even wait until the corpse was cold before shoving a new person in here."

[lobster_bib]

His old roommate died? Jesus steps inside and closes the door since, for the moment, Hickey doesn't seem to want to fight for territory.

He's used to being sized up and found lacking, and he's glad to take the advantage that gives him. Although he'd rather not.

"I'm sorry," he says, because he is, deaths here don't sound like they're any better than those back home. "When did it happen?"

[friendsfordinner]

"Earlier this month." For all that deaths here don't sound good, Hickey is very nonchalant about the matter. Someone died. That's what happens. What matters is that you don't die.

From his spot on the couch, he looks up at Jesus before bluntly and without any hesitation asks, "D'you want the dead guy's room or the room of the guy who vanished?"

He doesn't use their names. George. Nick. Jesus doesn't know them, so why would it matter who they were?

[lobster_bib]

You don't ask too much about the dead, back home. They're gone. You move on. Hickey doesn't seem too broken up about it, so Jesus shrugs.

He peeks into one room, then the other, and they're almost identical so he shrugs. "That one," he motions, and doesn't care if it was the dead guy's or the other one's. He sets his things down and makes a mental note to poke through the boxes--vanished or dead, the owners aren't here to make use of anything in them.

Then he goes back out to the main room to explore the rest of what they have to work with.

It's cold in here, but he assumes that's just how things are here. Even at this temperature it's warmer than his trailer had been in the winter (and probably will be cooler than the trailer had been in the summer).

"Where are you from?"

[friendsfordinner]

Hickey turns his attention back to the instruction manual as Jesus starts his exploring. As far as he's concerned, it doesn't matter what room he picks: Hickey's already done first round of rifling through the left behind stuff anyway.

When he hears the question, Hickey perks up, looking over to answer. "Ireland originally, recently by way of London," says the man without a hint of an Irish accent. He lets out a small chuckle before, "Though most find the 'when' more interesting. It was 1843 back in my world."

[lobster_bib]

"You've been alive since 1843?" He drops into an empty chair.

He wants to ask how that's even possible, but decides that being here at all, that really compared to everything he's heard since coming here, that's just another small miracle.

"Must be an adjustment. You've been alive all that time?"

[friendsfordinner]

"I arrived here from 1843," he clarifies. "I'm only thirty or so. ADI managed to pull me from this world's past."

[lobster_bib]

"I'm from 2021," roughly that year anyway. He stopped keeping track after a while. "But all the tech we had is gone. Back to about your era, actually."

[friendsfordinner]

"No shit, really?" Now that's interesting. Mostly because he hasn't really heard much about 2021. Sure, this could be one of those different worlds nonsense. But there's a part of Hickey that's still curious.

"What happened?"

[lobster_bib]

"The world ended," he says, without any irony. It's so strange to have to explain this. He's never had to put it into words before.

"There was a virus," when did germ theory come about? Later than the 1840's? Doesn't matter, he decides. "It killed a good percent of the population. And then the dead reanimated and ate the living. Not many people survived."

[friendsfordinner]

Hickey's eyes light up with excitement as he listens to Jesus's explanation. That...well then. That's interesting. And exciting in a way? What the hell, that's something unexpected, how the hell did something like that happen in the first place?

"Makes sense," he shrugs. "You've got fewer people, you've got certain things falling by the wayside. You take what you can get."

A moment's pause before, "Though I've got to say, reanimated dead eating people is certainly something I've never heard before."

[lobster_bib]

You take what you can get. That's pretty much a life motto, really.

"It wasn't always that way." He's not sure what to make of Hickey's reaction. "What was your world like?"

[friendsfordinner]

"A shithole," he says, without any hesitation. "Here's a giant step up."

[lobster_bib]

He'll give Hickey this, he likes his attitude about being here. They've chosen to do this job but, still. "Even with the apocalypse looming?"

[friendsfordinner]

"Looming's different from already here," he points out, like it's the most obvious thing in the world. Hickey gives Jesus a smirk of a smile before continuing with, "Besides. Push comes to shove, I don't mind swapping sides to keep my skin intact."

[lobster_bib]

There's a perverse familiarity in this. "Is that all that matters? Keeping yourself alive?"

[friendsfordinner]

"For me? Yeah," Hickey nods. "That's even more true in this place, where everything tries to kill you at least once a month."

[lobster_bib]

"So what about all the moments you aren't actively trying to stay alive?" There are a lot of those long moments in between life threatening horrors. "How do you pass the time?"

[friendsfordinner]

"I keep myself busy," Hickey shrugs. "Learn more about this world, pick up odd jobs here and there, find things to do that aren't staring at the walls and waiting for everything to go to shit. I don't like waiting for something to happen."

[lobster_bib]

"What jobs?" A small smile. "I'm not much for waiting, either. Teach me how to keep busy here, where do you go to keep from sitting around?"

[friendsfordinner]

"There are always signs up at the grocery store or something asking for help moving, offering work, things like that. I check those first," he nods. "Aside from that? There's always extra shifts you can pick up to search around Dogtown."

[lobster_bib]

Dogtown. He's heard a little about it, not enough to satisfy him yet. "Are those jobs you take? Scouting Dogtown?"

[friendsfordinner]

Hickey nods. "Whatever's happening down there, it's been picking up recently. They always need people to keep watch and keep the idiots from going inside or going inside yourself to pick up said idiots if they scale the fence."

[lobster_bib]

He frowns. "Isn't that part of figuring this place out? Exploring as much of it as we can?"

[friendsfordinner]

"Exploring as much of it as we can but being sensible enough not to run into a place that'll instantly kill you," Hickey corrects. "Dogtown's got a body count."

[lobster_bib]

"Nowhere's really safe though, either way," he shrugs. "Dogtown might have answers. What have you found there?"

[friendsfordinner]

"Honestly? Not that much myself." He shrugs! "But others have found things that try to kill them. I suspect it's luck of the draw."

[lobster_bib]

"Would you go there with me sometime?" Someone who's at least been there once might be handy.

[friendsfordinner]

"Of course," Hickey nods. "My schedule's free enough—just say when."

[lobster_bib]

"Let me get my bearings. Give me a couple of nights," he decides. He wants to get a feel for the land first. "But thanks. I appreciate it."

[friendsfordinner]

"Not a problem. I'm always up for exploring this place," he grins. "Might as well take advantage of it while we can."