starhuevalley | Action

[It’s morning. The sun is shining, the birds are singing, and there are two new arrivals around town who seem convinced that something very suspicious is going on here. Dressed in what can only be described as tactical gear, they’re clearly some kind of military, and appear to be acting accordingly. In a situation like this, the best course of action is obviously to fall back on instinct in an attempt to get to the bottom of whatever this is supposed to be. For these two, that means proceeding with caution.

Clearly there’s nothing questionable about two men carrying big guns through farms and fields, speaking to each other quietly as if to keep from being overheard. Keeping together, never straying far from the other, or lingering too long in a single area. Not at all questionable, or scary, or yeah no what are these two idiots doing.

They’re doing recon, of course! And they’re fairly thorough about it, methodically searching, poking around, overturning anything that looks questionable and possibly pointing guns at it. Was that thing yours? Sorry, it’s being inspected now. Do you live in this house? No problem, they’re just going to check around back. See or experience anything strange during your stay? No? Are you sure?

Or maybe you just come across them while going about your business. They’re obviously friendly with each other, even if they’re regarding everything else with some degree of wariness. It seems like a great idea to approach, if only to ask what the heck they think they’re doing.]

(ooc: It’s a two for one deal with Jack

strikecommand and Gabriel

passedover. We’ll both be replying to all threads unless otherwise requested.)

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Gabriel couldn't help but tilt his head enough to shoot Jack a clear Look at the answer about locals. It just really didn't sit well, couldn't quite place his finger on all the reasons why but...

Just didn't seem right.]

Looking for any oddities about the land, anything that seems out of place.

[Along with just learning and memorizing the layout in case of any.. emergencies. Never know.]

Am sorry if our looking so close to your home, and on the property, caused any worries while doing that. Like to be thorough.

[Jack considers all of this out of place, but he isn't about to say as much. He wants to make a quip about how there's no real way for her to be sure what is or isn't under her porch. For now, he just nods along with Gabriel.]

Didn't meant to disturb you, but it's for safety reasons.

[ Her lips twitch at that and she makes a small snorting noise; she's managing to not laugh aloud, but it's an obvious struggle. ]

Aahh, well, I promise you, my home is probably safer than any other! I'm not worried about anything that this place could throw at me.

[ Other than being extremely clean and things being neatly organized, it doesn't really look different from any other farmhouse. ]

Not unusual for things to be more than they seem.

[Not referencing anything in particular.]

Do a good job of keeping tidy. Seen anything strange or out of place since you've been here?

[For as much as Gabriel insists that Jack is better at dealing with people, this seems to be going just fine, even if he's not asking the majority of the questions. He'd argue that this whole place is 'out of place', but that's a larger discussion that he knows he isn't going to get an answer to.]

I mean, besides the obvious.

[ She pouts a little at the clarification. Come on! Cut off her chance to talk about weird purple jewel-eyed owls and other weird wildlife. And also, to be honest, some of the people she's encountered here are also a little... odd, to say the least. ]

A housekeeper's good at what she does! No, no, everything's been fine. Compared to where I came from, this is probably the most normal I've ever seen!

[ Now that she thinks about it, that could count for every single place she's been before here. Yikes. ]

[There are always other chances.

Sometimes Gabriel can interact with other people just fine, occasionally. It depended on the approach or something, more than likely. Glancing back at Jack for his addition because

yeah

before his brow furrowed slightly. He was not going to ask where she came from if this was normal, probably not a good idea. Probably.]

No strange noises or sights?

[ That... gets a brief sort of Look on her face, somewhere torn between amusement and embarrassment. Strange sounds, huh... ]

A-ah... nnnot as far as I've noticed! Though, um, I haven't really been paying attention most of the time. But, um, I have a pair of pretty decent guard dogs, so I'm not too worried.

[ """Guard dogs.""" Is she allowed to make that joke? Probably, so long as Maera and Mallory never hear it. ]

[Jack is definitely thinking that they're actual dogs, and nods along accordingly, his lips pulled tight.]

Well, let us know if you see anything out of sorts. We'll be around.

Yeah, been helpful already but any little bit of further information would be good, too.

[Gabriel was around the same thoughts on them being actual dogs, great. Head tipping towards Jack with a glance.]

If there's nothing else we'll be leaving, and thanks again for taking the time to answer a few questions.

You don't have to, yet! Are you hungry? I've been doing a lot of cooking.

[ To feed her dogs. No. She doesn't actually expect them to take her up on it, suspicious as they're being, but she might as well offer. It's a friendly neighbor thing to do, right? ]

Ah, including baking! To be honest, I've kind of overdone it... again. So we've got a surplus.

Uh--

[Jack shoots Gabriel a glance. It's clear that he wants to be polite, but he also doesn't want to rope Gabe into, you know, socialization.]

Reyes?

[He's only half surprised by the offer— half because they'd had honestly marched up and started asking questions out of no where and this was not the result of that.

Gabriel glanced at Jack before shrugging, letting out a faint sort of sigh.]

We can stay for a little while, would hate to further impose.

[Go on and be polite for the both of them, farm boy.]

It's not an imposition! A good housekeeper is always ready for guests!!

[ She pumps her fist a little; she sounds awfully proud of herself for this. ]

I've been experimenting with cookies, mostly, so you can tell me which ones you like the most. My second test audience!

Okay. If you're sure.

[He has no idea how long the two of them will last, but at this point it feels rude to turn down the offer.]

Who was the first?

[Are they dead?]

[This is your fault if they die, Jack.]

Huh, sounds like you've been having fun with it.

[This is also your fault, Jack, because now Gabriel is interested and it's easy to pick up in his tone.]

My family, of course!

[ She spins around to face them, whipping out her jpad-phone-camera-thingy. The lockscreen is what is clearly a selfie of her and these two guys, and then this guy leaning into the shot, looking amused. The first two both look kind of fondly long-suffering, the way one might deal with a beloved but too high-energy friend. ]

Ah, I used to just do it as part of my job too, so I'm getting used to it again.

Ah.

[He certainly recognizes Mallory, and exchanges a glance with Gabriel as if to communicate something wordless.]

You two know each other?

Huh.

[That was definitely a now familiar face, look exchanged with Jack before looking back up to her. Small town, or something.]

Ran into one of them, very helpful. Good guy.

[Mallory left a good impression with Gabriel, honestly. Was not always easy, but that was just... Gabriel.]

Mm! We met in high school, and we've been together ever since!

[ Maybe not entirely literally, and there's something something mumble weird timelines whatever going on with Maera and Mallory, but you know. Little details. The point is that they have known each other for that long (it's not that long; she's only in like her mid-20s) and she still has them. ]

They can be kinda gruff, but they're definitely good guys! You can definitely count on them when you're in a pinch.

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