jaegeracademy | [ open ] Valparaíso, Jewel of the Pacific

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[ open ] Valparaíso, Jewel of the Pacific

Characters: OPEN to all!
Location: The city of Valparaíso, Chile.
Date/Time: The first weekend of March (1st & 2nd).
Summary: The first group of Cadets are finally released on the city of Valparaíso. With a curious city wanting to meet them, both Cadets and Staff of the Shatterdome itself will find plenty of people willing and curious to hear what it is they're up to - not to mention complain about the unapologetic ugliness of the Shatterdome.
Additional Notes: Cadets are expected to be in uniform and represent the PPDC at it's best. For more information and any questions, please refer to this post in the OOC community.

Valparaíso is a city with an old reputation, struck hard by the Panama Canal back at its completion, and struggling and rising to a place of cultural prominence since. Nowadays it remains an important sea port along the Chilean coast, though not as busy as San Antonio, and has helped foster artistic communities and a wealth of Chilean culture well worth recognition and appreciation on its own.

For such a beautiful city, the Shatterdome is both an honor and an eyesore. The Cadets from the new program are a subject of gossip and fascination, novelty selling them in the short term in ways that weren't sustainable over time.

For those who hadn't been able to spend time outside looking over the city, Valparaíso provided all kinds of sights and hidden gems, from murals on stairs to a hundred plus year old tram that runs the hillsides, museums paying homage to the 16th Century roots of the city, to statues and architectural structures and beaches galore. Free from the industrial efficiency of the Shatterdome for a short time, where will the Cadets and Staff find themselves today? The possibilities might not be endless in actuality, but they were a far cry more varied than the last two weeks had been!

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They're both older and wiser now, even if just by seven years. Seven years is a long time to learn about oneself, especially when every day is an exercise in wondering when the next massive threat to your life will occur. PPDC staff and crews live that fear every day, of dying, of watching those they care about be defeated, and it's harrowing to imagine those possibilities. She worried, too, when Jacob was out. But she held it in, never let anyone know her feelings on it. It wouldn't have been right.

"I won't let you lose me this... time. No, that sounds... Let's just go eat."

They are and frankly, it's those years that have mellowed a lot of his usual habits around her, but some are still there. Though there's some amount of fame that comes with his job too and he's had that go to his head, even if he's a little bitter about things, a little sadder now. He doesn't like to think about the idea of dying because it's not just the kaiju you have to worry about.

His face falls some at her wording, shoulders slumping just a touch. It wasn't intentional, at least he hopes not and he just nods, starting to walk and tugging her along by her hand. He's not letting go of it if she doesn't fight him, though he is staying silent.

Let it not be forgotten that he's the one who came to her, courted her, and foolishly proposed. She's been nothing but sensible about the whole thing, or so she thinks. So she'll say. Maybe she'll admit to having made a mistake or two along the way, but who knows what the future will hold?

Instead of pulling away, she falls into step beside him, indicating the area they ought to head toward, a little low wall where they can sit down out of the way and talk while he eats. She'd rather be away from tables, away from prying eyes for now.

"...You look good, by the way. Better than I expected."

Well that's totally normal isn't it? Like end of the world, he dated her, he approached her, he did all the leg work okay. He tried, no one can say differently. But who knows what the future will bring.

He just goes along with her, wherever she would like to go. He's not picky, he just wants a seat and a chance to eat and catch up. So he's just going to look down at their hands before shrugging.

"What were you expecting me to look like? I was lucky, you know." His smile is just a little tighter, his eyes just a little sadder. "Though you're as beautiful as ever."

The future looks pretty good so far. Lunch, talking, pretty easy stuff. She can work with this. It's just around a corner, a little hidden away, but with half a good view of people going by several yards from them. She takes a perch on the wall, just a little higher than she ought. Her feet swing as she adjusts her skirt, and she looks over to him, sipping her coffee.

"Older. You don't look older at all." Oh.

He looks around them when they get to the wall, nodding in approval as he sits up onto it. Being as tall as he is, it's about right for him and he starts to unwrap his grilled cheese and meat sandwich, looking her over more as he goes.

"It hasn't been that long, and I do try and stay in good shape. I'd think you'd be showing it more then me." He doesn't mean much by it, just a casual observation as he bites into his sandwich.

"I am." She is. She knows she's aged, her hair is almost completely gray now and there are fine lines beginning to show here and there. But it's fine, and she's always thought it fine. As he begins to eat, she doesn't take her eyes off him, scrutinizing for any changes. He doesn't have that characteristic Ranger strut, that arrogance she always expects, even in minute doses. He's humble in that regard, content to do his job for the betterment of humanity, and to do it well. It's not wonder she fell for him, though she'll always wonder why she was his target. Maybe someday she ought to ask.

"No, not really." But she hasn't changed in the ways he's looking at her. She's still her, she still has a certain way she walks and talks and he could pick her out in a crowd if she were bald and hunched over. Whereas he lost a lot of his arrogance, his need to show off, but loss does funny things to even the cockiest of people. He would rather do it well then show off, and he knows what he can and can't do now, hard lessons and such. All that's really physically changed is he's a little more muscled, a few more scars on him in places not readily obvious.

"I was half expecting you to be hunched over with a cane, glasses on your nose and yelling at all the cadets to get back in line." He tries to hide his amusement at the idea though with another bite of his sandwich.

Perhaps Catherine ought to laugh, but she doesn't. She imagines she'll waste away in R&D as time goes by, hiding behind walls shes put up herself. Maybe he's referencing that: her isolation, always acting older than she is, and never compromising on anything if she can avoid it. A stubborn old maid.

"You know I only wear my glasses when I've been working too long."

No, he's oddly enough just teasing her. He's always seen her as the sort to be that grumpy old lady down the road that chases the kids away when they play outside her house and somehow distract her from her work. He's honestly trying to tease her here really, he doesn't mean much by it and when she doesn't laugh he sighs and looks away, handing her half of his sandwich still in it's wrapper.

"Times change though, right? People change, you and me included in that."

She accepts the sandwich, hand lingering near his for a moment longer than perhaps it ought to.

"We do."

And she's not sure she wants to know precisely how he's changed. She doesn't want to see her brave young soldier with his shoulders slumped and his pride beaten down at all. She wants the vigorous and bold young man she fell for, only older, wiser, and somehow more attractive.

That matters, yes.

But she's changed. What she wants and needs have changed, and she doesn't know if pride will ever let her communicate that to him. She can appreciate him now, who he is, what he stands for. She has trained and worked and connived and built and has felt true loss at last. Nothing has ever been handed to her, but so little had ever been taken away until the kaiju came along.

"We're lucky to see it, you know. Us, each other, the changes to things, after everything."

He's gently bumps his shoulder against hers, not very hard but just enough to make contact as he talks. He doesn't want to mention how he's changed, he doesn't want to ruin what she thinks of him because it always happens somehow, doesn't it? Though with her it feels good to just be himself and not an instructor or old Ranger, just a guy hanging around his old girlfriend/lover/whatever they were.

He's just happy for it all, and that in some way she gets it now, maybe. If she's involved at all she has to, right?

"Fortunate, and all in spite of circumstances that should, by all rights, keep us apart."

Once his shoulder contacts hers, she finally manages a small smile, and ducks her head. He's so disarming, the charming bastard. Yes, she was so in love with him once, and she probably will be again if she isn't very, very cautious.

"I've thought about things more these last few years than I ever had before. I've learned some things the hard way." Because loss has shaped her, success has bolstered her. There's so much more of a chance now for them to be friends instead of lovestruck idiots.

"Life's weird like that, we find people again we never thought we would."

He just leans against her when she ducks her head, smiling more now. It's not the soft, unsure smile of earlier but more his old self, charming and he's up to teasing. Goofing off, being himself. Not many people he feels like he can be around anymore.

"And what did you learn?" The smile is still there, and he's curious. He shoves the hope swelling up inside him down though, she can't be thinking about that. Idiots make mistakes and such, that's what that was, wasn't it? So what's she looking at now?

"That some things are significantly more important than pride."

And pride she has and always has had in spades. Enough for several people. Pride in her work, herself, her mind, her inventions and contributions. But losing people has cost her a lot of that. What happens when the ends and the means are light years away from each other?

Subtly, as she takes a bite of the sandwich, she tips her hat back a bit more. It's nice out, at least, bright and clear. The sort of day that makes you want to do something life-affirming.

"Are you free this evening?"

"It's a good lesson, hard won in these times."

He had a lot of it himself, he knows how easy it is to just watch it get bruised and batter or even shattered. But he's never had enough of it to get in the way of forming relationships with people, and he's only gotten humbled further by his past.

He in turn reaches up to unzip his jacket, he's actually, finally getting hot and he doesn't need it on, but he hadn't been sure how long he'd be out and if it got cold well, better in too warm clothing then too little. He glances at her though, watches how her expression changes or doesn't and wonders what all she's thinking about.

"Of course I am, things haven't gotten started really yet." He almost asks if she wants to do dinner but doesn't, instead he pulls out a bit of meat that was sticking out of his sandwich to eat on it's own.

Living in a Shatterdome isn't glamorous, but there's something comforting about the appearance of his jacket, that one little bit of the rock star lifestyle he holds to. His shred of pilot's pride. The PPDC giveth and taketh away.

It's a game of waiting, isn't it? Wondering what tomorrow holds, and the next day, and the next, wondering if the kaiju who comes next, or the one after that, or after that is going to be the one to take away everything for her, for someone, for anyone.

"Why don't we have dinner?" ...Because they're not having lunch right now. "I think we'll need more than a little time to catch up."

Edited 2014-03-04 05:55 (UTC)

He doesn't mind living in the Shatterdome, but maybe that's because he's spent so long living on bases that it's just another assignment. But the jacket is very much a comfort thing, one she'll easily pick up on if she knows him well from before. He's a pilot, ranger, instructor, all rolled up into one and he's earned it all. He's earned the right to show it off some, right?

But it is very much a waiting game, and he's come to just try and embrace things as they come along. He's just wondering if she'll get that or not.

"Dinner would be great." He's happy to spend as much time together as she'll allow, okay? "As I think you're right. Anything you want in particular?" For the moment however, his sandwich is down, nearer his lap and not near his mouth.

She's used to it, in a way, his actions and his thought processes. The memories of such are slowly coming back as she sits here beside him. But she's not really the nostalgic sort most of the time, so it's fuzzy. Half-filled thoughts and holes in her recollections. It makes her wonder if he deserves the attention of someone who might give more than take.

Speaking of taking, though, she examines the sandwich carefully--his, not hers.

"No. I'm just content to catch up with you, at this point, only somewhere more... private." Yes. So what if she wants to be alone with him? So what if she's suddenly well aware of the fact that she missed him? Her voice softens. "If that's alright."

He might or he might not, but he's not looking elsewhere. He could have, but he never did, something about end of the world proposals and the like tend to keep a man faithful to the woman he did them too. His eyes are firmly on her face as they talk and he nods a little.

"So long as private has AC, I'm fine with it." So yes, he's totally fine with private. He doesn't mind being alone with her, he's missed her and it shows in his eyes and his voice. "I've missed you, Catherine."

She chuckles at the AC comment, not minding a little heat herself. In fact, she finds the temperature rather tolerably middling. But after a pause, she lays a hand on his knee, not too close to his food, and waits for his reaction.

"You shouldn't have."

She didn't come straight from Alaska, unlike him. But he just chuckles right along with her, bumping his shoulder against her's again because he lacks a free hand really to pat hers with.

"Why not? You're gorgeous, intelligent, and eat the food I find at random street vendors. I think that's every reason to miss you."

With everything set aside, she's honestly got her hands free to do whatever she wants. The sandwich is balanced precariously, sure, but it's fine. The compliments are almost too much, and they're a little overwhelming when she's been alone for so long.

"You've always been too kind."

Leaning in closer, nearly knocking her hat off, she drops her voice.

"I might have missed you, too. I've never met anyone else who mattered."

Edited 2014-03-08 23:02 (UTC)

After a little shoving of his sandwich he gets a hand free and he reaches over to take her hand now. He's trying to show his appreciation for her since they were apart for so long, he's never been alone in that time but he's never had anyone like her around him that's for sure.

"No, I don't think I have."

But then he's reaching up to gently try and push her hat up, away from her face so as to see her eyes better. He gulps as well before replying.

"That's saying a lot coming from you."

It's remarkable how appreciated she feels even with such small gestures. She's touched, infinitely pleased that they're here together. Maybe it'll last a while, this reunion. There's a tinge of hope in her voice.

"I try to be honest with you. You know that."

She reaches up to touch his cheek now, and leans in to press a soft, experimental kiss to his lips.

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[ open ] Valparaíso, Jewel of the Pacific

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