singillatim | think of me once in a while

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think of me once in a while

THINK OF ME ONCE IN A WHILE

WHERE: The wilds of Milton.
CONTENT WARNINGS: N/A.

TAKE CARE

Off the heavily-trodden paths and steady trails there’s a lonely semi-circle of gnarled jack pines that twist and bend beside a rocky cliff face. Beside the pines are carefully-laid stone piles, three in all, one half-built with rocks stacked haphazardly in waiting beside it.

They vary in size, one as tall as a man, one smaller, one sort of leaning, as though the builders were more concerned in the act of laying the stones themselves than any kind of uniformity. In one cairn buried deep in the middle of the circle of stones is a scrap of graying fabric, in another a piece of paper too weathered to read, in another a silver fork.

The site itself looks worn and revered. It’s been used, but for what purpose is unclear. Marker, memorial, altar, grave - the cairns might be all things at once, or nothing so significant. There’s only one real clue: a small collection of plants, some wilted and some fresh, at the foot of each stone tower.

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Hickey's staring at that scrap of cloth as if it'll unlock all the mysteries of the universe. Or at least, as if it'll unlock the current mysteries of his current situation. Because there's something odd about this fabric. These cairns. This memorial. Something odd he can't place.

When he hears Lalo's voice, he looks up, then gives the man a little nod. There's a moment and a small chuckle before,

"Nah, nothing of note. Whoever made these cairns, they weren't hiding anything."

Lalo nods at that, to show he's absorbing the information. He swings his arms a little bit, not unlike a bored toddler, and looks around. Then his face lights up. He gets an idea.

"Sounds like it might be worth it to communicate with them," he says. Assuming whoever made this isn't vanished or dead, which... they might be! Only one way to find out. He's almost eager to explain his new, probably terrible idea, the energy vibrating off of him, but he'll wait for Hickey to ask. His eyes flicker to the half-built cairn, the one with rocks waiting beside it, and then back to Hickey.

"So, I say we start with the one that's not finished yet," he says, with the air of someone who's used to telling other people what to do. Sorry, Hickey. At least he's cheerful about it, and hey -- he's receptive to feedback, too.

"What do you think?"

Edited 2024-04-03 23:04 (UTC)

There's a bright energy in Hickey's being as well. Lalo's got an idea. He's an odd one, but if he's certain about something, Hickey's interested and he'll want to know what it is. The man's a little off-putting sometimes, but Hickey appreciates the drive. Drive matters. The possibility of changing yourself, of making yourself better, that's always important to him.

"Smart idea," he says, with a nod. "Best to check all of them. After all, if we overlook one of the cairns, then that's the one who's going to have something of use."

Hickey walks over to the half-built cairn and starts to dismantle it as well. There's a moment as he muses, "Y'know, we had something like these back home. Way I remember it, people from previous expeditions left messages behind. They left behind instructions, messages, logs, stuck in a cairn like this."

He certainly is odd, Hickey! Very observant.

"Did they?" Lalo asks. Mildly, but interested. Not looking at Hickey, bu only because he's too focused on the task at hand. He grunts, heaving a loud breath, but he doesn't stop trying to dismantle the cairn. "You know, I was thinking... we could arrange the rocks to spell out a message. When we're done. But if you think hiding something in one of the cairns and then re-building might work better..." He waits, curious to see what Hickey thinks.

Truthfully, he's never been more glad to come from a time with cell phones. Too bad there aren't any of those here! No working ones, anyway.

"Definitely re-building," Hickey points out. There's a moment before he muses, "Dunno who made these. But if we rebuild them? Make it like they were never messed with? Maybe they'll put something of worth in them. Maybe they'll come back and I'll know who made something like this."

Because these were here for a reason. Someone made these choices for a reason. Someone did this. And Hickey wants to know who. He's desperately curious and desperately nosy.

Lalo thinks about that. It's definitely not a bad plan by any means... and frankly it probably makes more sense than anything Lalo might want to do... but it's also not exactly what he had in mind.

"I say we leave two of them taken apart. Let them now somebody was here," he offers, hopefully. He clearly really wants Hickey to see the genius of where he's going with this. Not to mention, it'll conserve their energy if they don't spend time re-buidling all three. "Re-build one... and leave a note in there! Or an offering. A tribute." He does a mock hands-raised in surrendering gesture. To say, 'we come in peace'."

He thinks for a moment about Young Bill's eco-fucks. "Because, man... some of the people who were here before us, they're not so friendly."

Lalo looks pleased by the work they've done dismantling the cairn so far. He glances over at Hickey, and then... speaking of nosy and curious! "I'm sorry-- I know we've spoken a few times-- but I don't think we've been introduced, have me? Nice to meet you. You can call me Lalo. Short for 'Eduardo'."

Edited 2024-04-06 19:46 (UTC)

"Yeah, I've seen you around," he says, with a little nod. They have indeed talked a few times. And, aside from that Lalo seems to be the sort of man who like to talk just to hear himself talk. It's something Hickey doesn't mind—after all, one of his best friends is March, who's the exact same way.

"Name's Cornelius Hickey, but I just go by Hickey." If Lalo clarified his nickname, Hickey'll clarify his preference—though how the fuck someone can get 'Lalo' from 'Eduardo' is unknown to his 1840s British ass.

"Rebuilding one of them's not bad," he muses. "But you're going to have to leave the note. I don't have any pen or paper on me." There's a moment before he continues, sarcastic little grin on his face, "It's not the sort of thing one carries on them when exploring the wilderness."

Lalo clearly looks delighted that Hickey remembers him. "You're a gentleman, Hickey," he says. Hickey's assessment is correct, too. Lalo very much does like to hear himself talk! And if Hickey is willing to indulge him, then that makes Lalo even happier.

"Leave it to me," Lalo says brightly, when Hickey says he'll have to leave the message. He whips out a pocketknife from his jeans pocket and picks up a stubby, strudy little piece of wood from the ground.

"What should it say?" he asks, waiting for Hickey to tell him what to carve into the little piece of wood.

Try better next time. You're not as stealthy as you think you were. You've been found out.

"Just a little 'sorry we interfered' would work. Might as well apologize, of course." Except that based on the shitty little smirk on Hickey's smile, his message is less of an apology and more of a warning. A small little message to whoever decided to leave the cairn here that hey, they're not subtle, whatever they're trying to hide, it's already been found.

"After all. I am a gentleman."

Oh, no. Well, he could never hope to fool you, could he? Can't bullshit a bullshitter.

Lalo points at Hickey and grins. "That you are," he agrees, before he starts to whittle exactly those words into the bark. He glances at Hickey while he does. "Anything interesting? In the cairn."

He does have another question, though. One less personal to Hickey, maybe, but of no less interest to Lalo. "You and Chloe seemed tight," Lalo says. He hesitates a little, and with an embarrassed laugh: "From what I remember, anyway. You know. Between the hallucinations."

He grins. "What do you think? That one's a looker, right? Hoo!" He continues whittling as he talks, going slow. Wanting to do a good job. "Talk about the view from behind, am I right?"

Edited 2024-04-16 05:20 (UTC)

Idly, Hickey wonders if all people from his future are just that horny or if it's the ones he hangs out with. He's gotten a bit better about bringing this up—both Kieren and March reacted well to him admitting his preferences, so to speak. Yeah, Rorschach took it poorly but Rorschach's a dirty little freak who probably sleeps in that mask. Hickey doesn't believe in taking opinions from someone who doesn't know what a bath is.

So, still keeping the conversation light, he starts to slightly tease,

"You'd know more about that view from behind than me. My attentions fall on those of a more masculine bend. But yeah, Chloe's a good friend. Don't know her as much as some others here, but I enjoy her company."

Lalo's knife slips as he's whittling, and Lalo winces when the blade slices into his flesh. He recovers quickly, and he sucks on the small cut. Why would Hickey tell him? Does Hickey know? Hickey is from the 1800s, there's no reason for him to be this open about it unless--

No, no. he can't know. It's a secret. Lalo is so good at keeping secrets.

His heart pounds quietly in his chest, but outwardly Lalo is happy, comfortable, cheery...except for his hands. He finishes the whittling, and with shaking hands, places the piece of bark in the destroyed cairn.

He fixes Hickey with his best, brightest grin. "Then you're a lucky man!" he says. "Trust me, men are easier to deal with. Women... pfft." Lalo rolls his eyes meaningfully, grinning playfully. It's not true. Lalo decided to be straight a long time ago, because of how difficult navigating relationships with other men can be. But to each their own. Hickey seems confident about his proclivities, not insecure, so Lalo doesn't feel a need to try to use it to make fun of him.

"I don't think her company is worth enjoying, though. You could do better, man. She keeps stealing from me."

Yeah, Lalo stole from dead people, but that's different! They were dead.

It helps to be confident about your proclivities when you're actively cohabiting with a man who you're basically married to. Hickey's not an idiot. He knows that the longer he and Billy stay here, the more things happen, and the more people get to know the two of them, the easier it will be to connect the dots. He and Billy will only be able to keep to themselves for so long. Might as well get ahead of it.

That being said, that revelation about Chloe stealing from Lalo definitely gets Hickey's attention. He frowns slightly before musing,

"I'll make sure to keep all valuables to myself and out of my pockets when we're around. There's a few things of mine I'd prefer not to go missing."

Lalo snaps his finger and points at Hickey. "That's the spirit! Always good to be on your toes." He grins. He does add, though, "But hey! It's not all bad. She threw herself at me the other night. She was begging me for it. I'm telling you."

This is 100% the whole, entire truth.

That sounds 100% fake.

"How'd she go from stealing your stuff to sucking your prick overnight?"

Rude. It's only, like, 75% fake.

Lalo seems unphased by Hickey's skepticism, and he barrels right along. "You know the green fog, right? The" -- he mimes coughing -- "that stuff? She was trapped out there, trying to break into my house, and I saved her." Truly, Lalo Salamanca is a saint. "I'm tellin' you, man. She was so grateful." He winks, before turning to the second cairn and starting to take that apart too.

"I told her to get on her knees, and she did. No argument. I'm serious. Try it with your boyfriend." A point. "He'll love it!"

Then Lalo is back to cheerfully dismantling the cairn.

"Huh," muses the man who again, doesn't believe that. Hickey looks Lalo over, thinking to himself, before he equally cheerfully responds,

"I'll have to ask her how well the night was. After all, everybody loves a bit of gossip."

And he also goes back to dismantling the cairn, perfectly happy to keep poking holes in Lalo's story as he does so.

Shit. No, no, no. Fuck. Fuck. No. Shit. No.

It's okay, Lalo tells himself. He can still fix this. He's a master at social engineering. He can prevent this.

Okay. Play it cool.

"NOOOOOOO. No no no no. No. Wait. Don't tell her!" Lalo pulls away from the cairn and immediately drops a rock on his foot. Yipping in pain, he pulls it off and flings it into the distance somewhere.

He gathers his composure.

"What I mean, is..." Lalo's ears are red again. It reminds him of how red they got when Chloe first asked him to---

Noooooooo. Don't think about that! Don't think about Chloe. Her skin. Her hair. The smirk. The way she'd straddled him in his own kitchen, made him promise not to squirt her again, pain cutting into him with every movement...

Wait. What were they talking about?

Lalo clears his throat. Gestures broadly with big hands. With a surprising amount of bluster and confidence for someone who is forcing himself to stand on a painfully wounded foot, he explains. "What I'm saying is, I think we should keep this just between us guys. You know? Like a secret! Besides, if she knows I told you about it, she's going to get a big head and think I'm in love with her or something." Lalo rolls his eyes.

And think I'm in love with her or something.

Yeah.

Hickey's pretty certain that Lalo is in love with Chloe. He can keep that to himself, though. Instead, he gives Lalo a knowing smile and a little nod before, "My lips are sealed, mate. However you're going about this, I hope it works out in your favor."

Maybe if she actually fucks him, that'll knock out a bit of the bragging. Who knows?

That being said,

"If you wanna get that foot looked at, I don't mind walking back to town with you." You know. The foot that a rock got dropped on.

Oh, Hickey. If only you knew. The truth is so much weirder than Lalo being in love with her.

But the relief on Lalo's face when Hickey says he'll keep that between them is obvious. Lalo knows they're tight. The last thing he needs is the real story getting out and while he doubts a lot of people would care, he also knows everybody loves gossip and there's not much to do here except talk shit sometimes.

He couldn't live with himself if people found out what a freak he was. That's why he has to get his story out to the right people now. Relief lets the bravado come back. "Hey, thanks man! But I don't need hope. It's already in my favor. She'll come crawling back. Just wait." He winks.

"My foot...?" Despite the throbbing pain, Lalo almost seems to have forgotten, until Hickey jogs his memory. "Oh! Uhh. Sure!" Lalo does wonder if he should go anywhere alone with Hickey, whose ratlike face and astute observational mind make him seem like a dangerous person to be alone with.

Then again, Lalo also feel like he could handle himself against a polar bear. He's got a gun hidden in the waistband of his pants and he can control fire with his mind. It should be safe, right?

But he's surprised Hickey would even offer. Grateful, but surprised. "Thanks, man. I appreciate it. Just one thing." A knowing grin, like one shared between co-conspirators.

"What's in it for you?"

Edited 2024-05-04 23:08 (UTC)

Hickey gives Lalo a smile that might be innocent if it was coming from anybody else. He lightly teases,

"I'm purely selfish, mate. Get that checked out sooner rather than later and I won't have to listen to any bitching and moaning—especially if we keep working and you drop another rock on it."

Lalo laughs out loud, even if Hickey's joke is at his expense. He does wince, babying his foot as he hops over to Hickey, but it's not impossible to walk on it. That, he hopes, is a good sign.

"Then take me away!" he says. "I appreciate your thoughtfulness."

"What can I say, I'm a saint."

He gestures for Lalo to follow him as he starts to make his way back to the city. He's keeping an eye on Lalo, though. Nobody's doing anything stupid like collapsing or hurting his leg again or finding a way where people can blame Hickey for this bullshit on his watch.

Lalo happily, if slightly wobbily, trots after when he's beckoned, content to head back into town now that they know the cairns aren't hiding anything. Hopefully, Hickey doesn't mind talkers, because along the way, Lalo will happily talk his ear off.

((OOC: Does this work as a good stopping point for you? :D Unless you wanted to continue, that's fine too!))

And as long as Lalo talks, Hickey will listen.

( ooc: works for me! they'll bother each other again later. :3 )

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think of me once in a while

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