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[doubledollar]

Hey, yo! You reached uh, me! You should know who this is, right?
Anyway, you must'a caught me at a bad time, so, uh. Leave a message! I'll get back to you soon as I can. Love and Peace!

username: STAMPEDE

✉ ☏ 📷

Comments

[doubledollar]

what with everything going on, and you're STILL looking out for me.

I'm gonna' start thinking you're some sort of guardian angel
or what was it in those old stories

fairy godmother
...
you don't really fit the description tho i guess

[whiteshroud]

Mm, I'm a little young to be your godmother. And I'm no angel.

I was just worried about you being out there with no power. What if there was an emergency?

Besides, Varian did most of the work. He's the one who made it.

[doubledollar]

Okay, true, but hey, I'm tryin'.

You're still worrying over me like a hen. Not to say I don't appreciate it--I'm just not used to it, you know?
I won't complain about the goodwill. No, I'll find a way to thank you for it. Promise.

Varian, huh. I'll have to thank him, too.

[whiteshroud]

You really don't have to. I don't see what I'm doing as a big deal. I just thought having a generator would be useful for you, that's all.

[Which is on brand for Jun. He thinks about a thing to do, and he follows that impulse- regardless of how far it takes him]

Besides like I said before, you're doing me enough of a favor with taking care of that garden. How have been growing the red gernaniums been going?

[doubledollar]

Extremely useful.
Probably moreso, because I have someone sort'a. Staying with me now? He's been helping me out a lot too.

I just. Um.

Might need a bit of help setting it up. For a few reasons.

[doubledollar]

[ but... then there's also a photo attached next, a big group of leafy green plants--with little tiny red buds starting to develop against their juvenile stalks.]

I think... they might bloom soon?

[whiteshroud]

You do? Wow, that's great! Are congratulations in order?
And sure, I can help you with setting it up. It's pretty straightforward from the sound of it.

[This request doesn't strike at all odd and nor does he suspect that Vash LOST AN ARM]

Oh yeah, they look great! You'll probably get blooms within a week or two if they're looking like that.

[doubledollar]

Huh? Congratulations? Whatever for.

[ ....not the smartest cookie in the book, that flew way over his head and has escaped into the atmosphere, Jun. ]

Hey, I'd appreciate that, though. For real. I'm usually good with high-tech stuff thanks to being raised on a space ship, but uh.
I recently learned I'm not so good with old tech. Is it weird that stuff that's more primitive than what I'm used to is hard to understand...?

I'll send you some pictures of the flowers once they've broken out into blooms, though.
I'm amazed it's gone so well. This garden is amazing.

1/2

[whiteshroud]

[ . . . ]

Don't worry about it!

[whiteshroud]

That's not weird at all, I think. It's all a matter of what we're used to.
I'm sure if you handed me a telegram machine, I'd be stumped.

Haha, I look forward to seeing them. And it really is amazing.
If it's alright, I wouldn't mind taking an afternoon to do some weeding there.
This past week has been stressful, to say the least.

[doubledollar]

[ confused dog sound. he's gonna think about it for a moment, but. distractions come easy with the rest of Jun's text.

Especially because of that last sentence. eeh. ]

thanks for the reassurance. seriously had me feeling real dumb for a while.

and of course it's alright!! I've been home for a while, since I got out of one of those... messed up places. People keep tellin' me to stay home.
We can talk about it when you get here, if ya want. ...Don't like talking on this thing.

[whiteshroud]

Stay home...?

[Thats uh, extreme. He got told to rest, but no one is telling him to stay home. Jun is now Worried.]

Yeah, sure. I'd be happy to listen. I can be by in about 15 minutes?

[doubledollar]

I'm fine, really!

[ its totally not extreme everything is fine its fine i ]

I keep forgetting you can cheat and teleport here.
Save you the long trip. Lucky guy.

I'll be around back in the flower garden, when you get here.

[whiteshroud]

You walk around in a coat with bullet holes in it, so I hope you don't mind if I remain a little skeptical.

It's not cheating! I'm using what was given to me.

I'll see you soon Vash.

[And he is on his way!]

[doubledollar]

see thats the rub
the bullet holes are in my coat, and not me. heheheh.

[ but with that, he'll let it go, waiting for Jun to show up. at least with one arm it's easy enough to water the garden--the weeding had been taken over by Libra in the interim.

When Jun arrives, he'll catch the man feeding grapes to a rather big bird--he himself dressed plainly, hair once again not preened as it usually is.
He definitely looks tired, but his expression is bright and sunny as it always is.

He raises an arm to wave at his friend. ]

Heeeeey!

Just in time.
Man, that teleporting thing is useful.

[whiteshroud]

[Since Vash knows about his teleporting power, he won't bother trying to hide it. Instead he'll teleport into the garden with a flash of blue light.

When he sees Vash, he'll lift his arm to freeze only to notice well...someone is one arm short]

Vash-!

What happened your arm? It seems to be...missing.

[YEAH.]

[doubledollar]

[ well, someone caught on. Like. Right away. He does his best to laugh, a hand going to the back of his head as he lets out the little sound--but it dies off in the back of his throat pretty soon after. ]

Well, I.
Guess I should start again with a 'don't worry!', if only because at least I lost an arm I already lost before?

[ he was sort of trying to bodyblock it, but honestly. It's so fucking hard to hide the fact that you're down a limb. He'll get up and he'll turn to Jun fully, placing a finger and a thumb on either side of his sleeve... rolling it up.
To be fair he's only missing HALF an arm, as there's a bunch of twisted, broken metal and wires hanging off from where his elbow would be. More metal and leather leading up to nearly to his shoulder. ]

I lost it a long time ago.
...When I was. ...Ten? Maybe? It's been a really long time, I'm sorry.
When trying to ... save Takame.
I got caught off guard and it got cut off again.

[whiteshroud]

Vash...

[He'll listen to Vash's story, and while no- it doesn't do anything to decrase his worry, at least Jun won't freak out at the notion of him losing his arm when he was ten. Jun has been a child soldier in both his lives, so such a notion is disturbingly familiar to him.

It was through saving Takame huh? That...makes him worry as well. Was Takame going to blame himself for this? He knows he would.

He's quiet for a long moment, before he lets out a sigh. This dummy]

...It's going to be difficult to replace, you know. I'm sure that arm is much more advanced in tech than what this world has.

I don't have a magic solution off the top of my head to fix this one.

[doubledollar]

[ listen, the reassurance that he lost it when he was younger was supposed to be a reassurance!! like, he'd lived much longer without an arm than he lived WITH one?
He gives an awkward laugh when Jun looks at him with pity, and he has to look away--no, he ducks into the cottage right next to them for a moment.
Actually bringing the severed prosthetic, to show the other. ]

Even back home, this sort of technology is considered hard to get. I'm lucky enough to know a pretty talented guy who does this kind of work.
But... yeah. Remember what I said about not understanding old tech?
I figured asking if someone can fix this would be a pretty hard ask.
...especially given, uh.

[ hes going to grip the wrist of the hand, flicking it--revealing a gun, hidden inside it. ]

I figure I'll have to settle with a downgrade, but.

...It's fine. It was worth it. I'd lose the other one too. If it meant saving someone.

[whiteshroud]

[Jun quiet as he listens processing all this. Honestly, Vash is handling this rather calmly considering its his own arm he lost. Is it because he lost it before? ]

Ah...you have a point. I can't say I've heard of many prosthetic arms with guns outside of fiction.

[...Fine with losing his other arm if it meant saving someone]

Well...you did help save Takame. That alone has my thanks.

Though, please don't forget to take care of yourself too, okay? You should be counted among the people you try to save.

[He's not sure Vash will really believe that, but he wants to say it anyway. He didn't want Vash to get hurt either]

[doubledollar]

[ given how cagey he is with really giving any information on himself, it's definitely because he's lost it before. he's gotten his prosthetic broken a number of times in the past, this was just another unfortunate event. only difference this time was he couldn't go whine at Luida and Brad to help him build a new one. ]

I had a feeling.
It's... in the year 2000's in this world, yeah?
When I was born, I think the ship logs said it was somewhere in the 32nd century?

[ a lot changes in a thousand years. ]

Heh.
You worried about me?
I could probably get used to that.
I try to take care of myself, I do, but.
Sometimes, my body just moves, before I can think about it.

[ he pauses. a long, quiet pause where his eyes half-lid, and his smile, while pleasant, doesn't

quite look believable anymore. ]

I'm just not used to being so weak.
I got my strength back, but.

... well. That's not your burden.
Thank you for worrying about me, Jun.

[whiteshroud]

[A thousand year difference huh? Yeah...That sounded about right. It'll be long after Jun is dead and gone, so he chooses not to fuss over that detail too much]

Of course I worry. It's part of being friends.

[He can't say he's an expert in relationships, but he knows that much]

...You'll get your full capabilities back eventually. Just try not to lose all your limbs before that happens, okay?

[doubledollar]

Now that I know what I'm capable of and not so much, I'll definitely be a little less, er. Reckless next time. [ no, he won't. body moves before brain. ]

I'll ask around on the network what options there are for this, even if I get one that I can just use the hand again with I'll be happy.

But that aside.

You said you brought some sort'a solar thing?

[whiteshroud]

...I'm not holding my breath.

[YEAH HE IS DOUBTING YOU BEING CAREFUL VASH. But at least he doesn't sound angry about it. More closer to slightly resigned to it]

Oh, yeah! It's a solar generator. Should be easy enough to set up-- could you just direct me to whatever you think is a good spot that gets a lot of sunlight?

[doubledollar]

Does it have to be close to the house? I feel if it needs a good place that needs some sun, it should be more out in the open...

[ he's gonna tuck the broken prosthetic under his arm and he scoots over towards the middle of the garden, looking around a moment... ]

...Maybe over here? [ the path leading up to the cottage, sort of off to the side where there's only a few small plants growing in a small patch--there wouldn't be much shade from the trees around the garden, or the cottage itself. ]