singillatim | open / radio killed the penmanship star

Entry tags:

open / radio killed the penmanship star

Who: Cornelius Hickey & OPEN
What: futzing with the radio, dog times, hot springs
When: throughout the month of August
Where: Milton

Content Warnings: nudity in the hot springs, will add as needed

morse code / ota
Hickey occasionally is smart. He doesn't exactly know what Morse code is, but he knows that this radio Marra gave him can only send dots and dashes. Obviously there must be some kind of language or code used, simply because it would be remarkably useless to communicate with otherwise. So, might as well do some poking around, see if there's anything useful or any code books in any outposts—Lakeside has the hydrodam, that might be useful. It takes him a while but he finds what he's looking for: a basic guide to Morse code.

Anybody who's got one of the shortwave radios that Marra gave out will soon hear a message repeated, a few times a night, as Hickey tries out his new toy (and also, more importantly, just tries to get more fluent in Morse code):

THIS IS HICKEY. CAN YOU HEAR ME?

wolf mode / ota
Every now and then, Hickey just has to cut loose and enjoy some time as a wolf. It's easier, after all. He likes Billy, he likes his human friends, and honestly it's gotten so much easier here now that certain people have died and/or vanished. But every now and then, when he's focused too much on Morse code or worried about their provisions for the winter or stuck on some boring human concern, he just takes a moment to forget all that.

Sometimes he hunts. Hickey as a wolf is small, with reddish gray fur, and a wirey build. Anybody in the wolf pack is invited—hell, there are times when Hickey goes up to his mates directly and just bluntly asks if they want to hunt this evening. There are times when Hickey can be found out in the woods, squirrel in his mouth, looking up at anybody with a 'what are you going to do about it?' sort of expression. And there are times, few and far between, when Hickey just plays. He romps in the snow, digging down with his paws, shoving his snout in before leaping and bouncing all over the place.

hot springs / ota
Hickey doesn't usually take clothes along when he's in wolf mode. He's destroyed a few too many shirts via shifting and honestly, it's a pain in the ass to get dressed in the cold. He'll go out in the afternoon then come back home at night, happy and tired, slipping through the town when most people are asleep and nobody can bother him (and, just as importantly, he can shift back into a person close to home).

So that means when Hickey decides to take a break from being a wolf and just soak in the hot springs for a moment or two, he does it buckass naked. Dick out, limbs sprawled, just absolutely enjoying his moment of relaxation.

Sorry anybody who's coming into the hot springs and who wants to relax themselves, there's a naked man lying next to the hot springs, feet in the water, back resting on one of the rocks slightly warmed by the temperature, sunning himself like a lizard. Hickey does not want to move right now.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"Nah," Hickey says, with a little shake of his head. "There are a few messages, but it feels a lot like what I'm doing—making sure this thing works, practicing, things like that. I'm signing mine, but I don't think anybody else is."

There's a possibility that people are signing their messages and it's just due to Hickey's unfamiliarity with Morse code that he's translating them poorly. But will Hickey ever admit that he's mediocre to bad at things? Like hell he will. Obviously this is other people's fault, certainly not his.

"Something like this...I can see it being useful someday. Best to learn more about it now, when things are quiet, so I don't get caught flat-footed."

"I suppose it might be useful if one day someone tries to contact us from the outside world."

If, that is. Billy doesn't necessarily have all that much hope in it, somewhere between their previous situation back home and the fact that they haven't really met anyone like that here in this place yet, even after all this time..

But it's not like he's fully discounting the possibility here. Hickey is right - it can't hurt to learn, at least. Especially when the other could stand to have a harmless hobby.

He thinks about it for a moment, but then seems to realize something else, asking: "Where did you get it from, anyway?"

"Last time I went to Silverpoint, I spoke with that woman in the lighthouse. Marra. She gave it to me."

And for a moment, Hickey stops fidgeting. There's a pause, a pause that's obviously someone deciding what to say and how to say it. After a moment, Hickey continues.

"I asked her about the lighthouse. If she saw anything, any sign of ships or anything like that. Nothing. She's been keeping the lighthouse going, but for two years, she hasn't seen a sign of anything."

It's entirely possible that there isn't anywhere else to go to. That, for whatever reason, Milton is all they have left. It's odd. A bit terrifying. But certainly odd.

...

It's an implication he picks up on very easily. It's the only logical conclusion to draw from an announcement like that, after all. And though it doesn't necessarily surprise him - really, Billy figured that if there was any outside world that could reach them, there would have been signs of it by now - it's also not exactly the most pleasant thing to think about either.

Maybe that's why he's quiet for a moment before he speaks up again, looking at the other man as he does. "Two years is a very long time." Speaking the obvious. Billy knows they are thinking about the same thing in this moment, anyway. They have to be. "It isn't as if we are as far out as we were back home. There are actual villages here."

If people could look for them here, they would have.

Billy's right. There are people here. There's a whole bloody world here. If something had happened, if whatever this is only affected them, there would be others. There would be multiple people, out on a search. It wouldn't just be them.

He doesn't like this.

"This isn't like the ice back home," Hickey muses. "People know there are towns here. People would know where we are."

And yet...

There's a moment before Hickey lets out an annoyed, grumpy little, "Fuck. Here we are again, stuck in the bloody ice. Again. No one really to find us, little hope of getting somewhere warm."

Edited 2025-08-27 13:25 (UTC)

"At least there is food."

It's the one advantage they have compared to back home. Especially considering it's one of the main things that brought them down in the end. Well, that, and apparently Hickey having even more of a delusional spiral after Billy's death - but he likes to think he can keep that sort of thing in check while he's still around. After all, look at Hickey now! This is great behavior by the other's standards.

It still leaves their other problems though. The cold. The constant supernatural danger. The isolation. None of that has changed.

He frowns, considering it, and then glances over at the other man as he asks: "Could you not go beyond that place?"

It's not like he knows. He hadn't gone to Silverpoint. But Hickey has, and with what Billy knows about him, he's pretty sure Hickey would have looked for other ways to head even further if he could have. Especially since he loves running around in that weird wolf form.

"There wasn't really anywhere to go," Hickey admits. "Place was coastal, surrounded by the ocean. Everything was frozen over. From what I saw, it would take a while if we walked out over the ice to try and get to land. And even then, like you said. There's food here."

Hickey could probably go ice fishing. It can't be that hard, thinks the man who has unearned confidence in just about everything. But Billy's right. There's food here. This place is cold, isolated, there's a big fuckoff monster wanting to kill them, but they've got food. They've got a roof over their head.

They wouldn't be able to have any of that if they went out on the ice.

"We'd have to plan it if we wanted to make a break for the mainland. Get plenty of food. Travel in winter when the ice is thickest. Get a map from that Marra woman to plan our route. And even then, I honestly don't know if it's worth it."

Judging by the look on Billy's face, he also isn't fully sure it's worth it. Yes, he would like to get out of this place and to somewhere a little more liveable - or at least somewhere where you aren't stuck with the same faces you really don't want to see.

But not at any cost.

"We would be idiots to die in practically the same way as before." Maybe a little bit less stabbing involved. Maybe a little bit less weird bear worship involved. But the circumstances are similar enough that it would be irony of the worst and dumbest kind. "It's not as if we don't have some advantages now. I don't get hungry and can set things on fire. You have better endurance and can turn into a wolf."

He pauses, seeming to think, before adding: "But I'm still not sure if it is enough."

Hickey nods. He agrees with Billy on that point. There are advantages here. They've got gifts. There's fresh food, fresh game. They can keep themselves and the people they care about alive.

And yet....

"Moment leads open up, I'm up for leaving," Hickey says, without hesitation. "This place is nice. Better than Terror, that's for certain. But I don't want it to be our final destination. Not when I know there's so much more out there."

There were ships. There were people. It's foolish to think that all of it, that the entire world is sequestered and closed off to Milton. Foolish and selfish. There are more things out there than their little sphere of influence. There have to be.

"I will go with you," he says - with perhaps a slight moment of thought, but not too much of it. Billy would prefer a better place, which is the biggest reason, but.. well, he does have to admit that he would like being in this place even less if the other wasn't there. It makes this option seem like the one with the most advantages. "Just as long as we are certain that we are not just racing towards our deaths."

It would make the whole thing rather pointless, after all.

He thinks, leaning his chin on a hand, and then slowly adds: "Perhaps we should see what Miss Frazer thinks as well. I don't imagine she would appreciate us leaving on our own very much."

At the mention of Chloe, Hickey lets out a low little chuckle. "Nah, she'd slit our throats if we just up and left. Besides, Chloe might want to join us."

Hickey knows how antsy she can get, how much certain aspects of the closed-off and circular little community they've built in Milton make her uneasy. Whatever's out there, wherever they might go, it's not Milton. And Hickey suspects Chloe might join them just because of that.

"But yeah. First thing's first, find out more about what's out there. Get some maps. Start preparing for the journey."

Chloe coming along with them doesn't sound like all that bad of an idea. The mutiny has soured him a little on the idea of bigger groups - especially if they are filled with people he doesn't particularly care for - but Hickey and Chloe? That's not so bad. He likes them. And they're resourceful people to boot.

So he raises his head again to nod at the ideas.

"I will keep an eye out." Even if he doesn't often go far away from Milton, sometimes new things do appear. Clues as to the nature of this place. Like that watch tower from a while ago. "If we concentrate our efforts, we will manage to pull something together eventually."

The more they talk, the more Hickey likes this. It's good to have a plan, even if it's an inkling of one. Hickey's fine in Milton. He can be content. If he had to life his life here, he wouldn't mind it.

But there's always a part of him that wants more. That wants to reach for something better, even if it might not happen, even if the goal is out of reach. If anyone can do it, he can. And why settle when you know there's something better out there? Why limit yourself?

"I'll keep listening to that radio. Who knows, maybe there'll be another earthquake to loosen things up in Lakeside. If something happens, if passages open, we should be ready to leave."

"There is that food I stashed away." The stuff he got from that boar, though he doesn't say that. Not because it's a secret or anything - but just because that boar delivering gifts each year still feels like a ridiculous idea. Billy can accept it in theory, but speaking about it would make him feel far too silly. "It was preserved, so it should be good for a long time. We can take that with us, even if we would have to leave very suddenly and wouldn't have time to gather anything."

You never know how things go in this place, after all. He thinks Hickey is very much right in pointing that out.

"I don't need much food anymore, so we might not need much more than that amount." Billy frowns a little as he thinks, adding: "I'm not sure where the limit is. Surely I can still die from starvation, so I would not want to push it. But I don't need much."

"You don't need food, but Chloe and I would make up for that." Hickey's noticed that his appetite certainly gets worse the longer he's out and about. It wouldn't surprise him if Chloe was the same. Still, after a moment's pause, Hickey points out, "At least the two of us can eat things raw as wolves. Come across a rabbit, we can just eat it then and there. It'll save the prepared rations that way."

Though admittedly, it's a bit nasty. Hickey absolutely knows that Billy would probably dislike sitting next to two wolves going to town on a carcass. But hey, it's easier that way, this is a great idea! No problems there! And it'll certainly take less time and effort.

"We'll make do. All this depends on what's out there, of course."

Ew, Hickey, gross!

He's indeed making an expression that seems to reflect those very words, that's for sure. Billy can't exactly say the idea of being stuck with the two of them turned into wolves and tearing up other animals that he finds particularly appetizing - though he knows that sometimes you just have to put up with these sorts of things. Doesn't mean he has to like it, though.

"It will mostly be a problem out on the ice." Not exactly like there's a lot of animals running around there, after all. They could still fish, but it's a little less reliable without them being able to run around as wolves and find animals that way. "If anything, we should first try to find out just how far it is until you might find land other than the land we are currently walking on. That should give us much more security." Sounds like a good place to start.

"That woman in the lighthouse might have answers," Hickey says, with a nod. "Marra. Sometime next month or month after that, I can make a trip back to Silverpoint and see if I can copy her maps."

And by 'copy', Hickey means 'steal if needed.' But look. These things happen. Sometimes you just have to steal a map!

"That does seem like it might be our best shot for now," Billy agrees, not very fazed by the idea.

Despite the fact that he's about 80% sure that there is a big chance Hickey might just steal them. But really, what's there to be bothered about with that idea, it's doubtful anyone is even going to get worked up over stolen maps of all things. They're not exactly on a polar exploration here, despite the similar weather.

No, the slight pause after he says that has nothing to do with any moral judgment or worry. It's so much more Billy trying to decide whether to actually share an emotion here or not.

It seems like his mind has leaned in favor of actually sharing it, considering he adds after that slight pause: "I am glad we can agree on this so easily. Others would not understand."

"They won't," Hickey says, without hesitation. Because that much is true. People here don't get it, they don't understand that you can be more. You don't have to settle for what you've got. You can always be better.

"That's why I like you, y'know? You get it. Even if these sorts don't. It's nice to have someone on your side."

Maybe it really is just as simple as Hickey is putting it right now. It's nice to have someone on your side. Especially when Billy isn't all that used to the idea, always having had to hide so much about himself in the past, never fully able to express his thoughts to others.

There's something nice about the idea as Hickey puts it so plainly. Enough so to make him smile just a little bit - mostly in reaction to the thought itself, but then it continues as he thinks to say, a faint joke in his tone: "Why, it almost sounds as if you are calling me smart."

Hickey, a man so used to keeping thoughts to himself and keeping so many secrets that he spent multiple years under a fake name, can agree with what Billy's thinking. He's also had to hide so much about himself, keep as much as close to the chest as possible, that having an ally, a lover, is...nice. Unexpected, but nice.

Billy teasing him, however, shall not go unpunished. Hickey rolls his eyes, a bit over-dramatically before teasing, "Course you're smart! I'm nice like that. Give my husband a compliment occasionally."

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

open / radio killed the penmanship star

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject