This RP takes place after this log but prior reading is not required.
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Setting: The last days have been exceptionally warm. Christian, who is usually early to bed, is taking advantage of the night cool to tend to his plants without having the water evaporate as soon as he pours it.
Gladys does a lot of walking around at night, exploring the base and the surroundings. That night, she’s crossed the border and is making her way into a remote part of BLU grounds.
Christian lugs canisters to the faucet beside the greenhouse. The day's heat is finally waning to a decent level, and he's got some serious watering job to do.
Ah, the challenges of trying to grow a garden, of all things, in the desert.
He reflects fondly on the reason why he's ever started gardening, wondering what she would think of it all.
Gladys approaches the greenhouse from the other side. She had explored pretty much all of the RED controlled territory at Dustbowl, and was sneaking into BLU more and more these days. Curious, she trotted over to the building and peered into a window. owo
Christian is humming to himself, busy and distracted by lugging the now full canister without spilling too much
ORP Gladys
how big is the greenhouse?
ORP Christian
hum, kinda big. There's a toolshed to one side, and it can house quite a bunch of plants. It was abandoned and a part of it is filled with junk but he's put a good part of it back in use
Gladys
walks around the building so that as she rounds one corner, he disappears behind the other. She does see the water splashed on the ground near the spigot. She looks around but she doesn't see anyone. She'll keep an eye out though.
Christian
walks slowly to the greenhouse gaping door and heads directly to the Jack-in-the-Pulpit plants. They probably suffered the most from the recent dry spell
Christian
frowns. They look downright pitiful. It really wasn't a good idea to try and grow these here. Looks like they are a lost cause.
Still...
Gladys
unknowingly follows him into the greenhouse, detouring towards the succulents. Wow, there were a whole bunch of plants in here! Maybe she could transplant some of her aloe's babies into these empty pots...
Christian
takes off a glove and tests for the soil's humidity.
Gladys
gets so absorbed in the plants that she forgets to listen for anyone sneaking up on her owo
Christian
"Ah, mes pauvres, c'est sec comme les pierres...." [Ah, my poor dears, this is dry as bone]
Gladys
what was that o__o
<__<
Christian
picks up the canister and begins watering
Christian
"C'est probablement trop tard pour vous, mais bon, vous méritez au moins un dernier arrosage"
Christian
[It's probably too late for you guys, but, well, you at least deserve one last watering"
Christian
speaks in a gentle voice to his flowers as one would a child
Gladys
quickly becomes aware that she isn't alone in the greenhouse. She slowly walks around a tall shelf and peeks at the BLU Pyro tending his plants. Curious, she just stares and listens for a while. He sounded so nice, what was that language? She'd heard it somewhere before...
Christian
admires his work, unsure it did any good. Oh well.
"Bon, allons, il faut que je continue, les autres doivent avoir soif" he apologizes to the forlorn Arisaema triphyllum
Christian
[Alright, I must go on now, the others must be thirsty too]
Gladys
it was kind of cute, the way he lovingly spoke to the plants. She did that sometimes too, but she thought she was the only one. Mesmerized she leaned forward on the table she was near, watching.
Christian
passes besides the schlumbergera, stops to gently prod the elasticity of the cacti
Christian
"Ah! Évidemment, toi tu a la grande forme. Un vrai petit soldat!"
Christian
[Ah! Of course, you are in top shape. What a little trooper!]
Christian
smiles fondly to the plant. Flowers are hard to properly tend for but cacti are a charm.
Christian
moves on to the Persian buttercups. These are definitely in better shape.
Gladys
feels bad just standing there watching, so when he puts the watering can down next she clears her throat and braces herself.
Christian
just as he was about to begin humming again, a sound that definitely didn't come from his own throat startles him
starts and whips around, horrified
"Augh qui-who is this!?!"
ORP Gladys
is he wearing his hood?
Christian
behold the shape of a very RED intruder in the low light, somehow having made their way in there without him ever noticing
ORP Christian
Nope but he's too startled to have realized he is bare-faced in front of a stranger
yet
ORP Gladys
awh
ORP Christian
he'll notice in a moment tough. It's one of his brain's subprocesses
Gladys
holds up her empty hands and smiles awkwardly "H-hi, sorry I uh, saw your plants and uh... they're very nice." She sees. She knows. But she cannot stop staring. And part of it is because she's remembering. Oh god, /say something/. "I'm Gladys, um, these are your plants right?" What if he didn't speak a lot of English?
Christian
has reflexively backed up, knocking the water canister over, fight or flight mechanisms fully kicked in and ready to have him bolt for the nearest vaguely weapon-shaped thing, whenthe RED pyro begins speaking in a non-threatening and definitively female voice
Christian
freezes like the proverbial deer in the equally proverbial headlights
Christian
brain suddenly kicks in and triggers a wholly different panic mode
Gladys
just keeps talking like an idiot, "I uh, I was wondering if I could transplant my aloe shoots in some of these pots, they're uh, you know, crowding the mother..."
Christian
"Augh - bordel!-"
has turned around, ducking his head down
his mind finally begins deciphering the words through the panic - she said her name? and asked about... his plants? and is speaking about plants again - oh god what
Gladys
turns away, ashamed, trying to give him back a little of his privacy. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have come here. If it means anything..." she gets stuck and swallows hard. "I know, it's not easy, but I am a Pyro too, so you... you don't have to hide."
Christian
tried to say something, luckily the RED Pyro spoke again, covering the sort of pitiful squeak that was all he had managed to let out
hearts skips a beat at her words
"ss....ff...y-you....you...."
"....you c-can t-take w-w-whatver y-y-ou n....n-need
lets out a shaky breath
"I...aah... I...sorry"
Gladys
thinks about what she would have done in a situation like this, how she would have reacted if someone had been watching her at her most vulnerable moments. Her expression hardened. She probably would have killed them. Guilt washed through her and just as she was about to apologize again, he did. "Wha-- no, it's, it's not your fault I shouldn't have been, I shouldn't have come here." She paused. "Thank you for not killing me."
Christian
nervously tugs his collar as high as he can, half turning around at her words to cast her a bewildered side glance. Did she just thank -him- for not killing -her- ???
and here he was pondering exactly how come he got walked on by a RED and was still breathing
and there she thanks him- who's not only shaking like a leaf in his boots for the fact he's passed directly onto the "catatonic terror" state- for not killing her!
mouths opens and closes like fish
"g-uh.... I'd n-never-"
(gosh stop speaking right now)
Gladys
"What really? That's very Christian of you. If I were in your shoes I would kill me." she smiles coldly to herself.
Christian
blurts "h-how c-come you k-know my n-name!?"
Christian's brain immediately whips up scenario that the entire RED team now know about him and how he can't kill anyone oh god and the RED Medic he must have told everyone about his breakdown and oh my god
Gladys
"I what?" Thinks about what she just said and it dawns on her. "Christian? Your name is Christian? Oh my god that's... I meant Christian as in "turn the other cheek peaceful follower of Christ"..." she starts to laugh, partially from nerves. "Sorry that's, that's kinda a funny coincidence."
Christian
feels the oddest mixture of shame and relief right now
hides his face in his hands even if he's still got his back to her
Christian
"G'ah... I t-thought.... I thought..." gosh what a coincidence indeed
Christian
mutters "quel idiot je fais"
Christian
[what a fool/moron I'm being]
Gladys
"Oh yeah, um, what language were you speaking before? It was... it was really pretty." She starts to turn back to look at him out of instinct, but then remembered to give him space and continued looking at the plants on the wall opposite.
Christian
perks his head up again. Didn't think the healthy parts of his cheeks could flush even more but here it goes
"Oh, hum, it's F-F... it's F-French"
Gladys
ahhh that was it. "I had a teammate who spoke French, that was a while ago though." She was far wearing out her welcome and was becoming more and more aware of it. Finally she sighed, "I uh, I should go. Sorry I scared you so. But it was nice talking to you." She stands up from leaning against the table.
Christian
half turns again. He feels some relief hearing her say she is going to leave, but the next words make his insides twist a little. Looking past the surprise appearance, the RED Pyro has been of the utmost civility and here in response he's been a awkward, bumbling oaf.... oh god, and she was, well, a lady, at that. He hadn't spoken to a person of the opposite sex since.... since...he can't remember- …and he has to go now and not show the slightest bit of courtesy?
His mother and father would be very disappointed of him right now geez he didn't even properly catch her name ungh what was it
Christian
"N-no hum, I... I ap-pologize I sh-should...." grasps at the air "l-let me g-get you p-pots"
heads to the stack of containers not requiring him to get in Gladys' close vicinity and begins nervously picking out those of a decent size to grow aloes out of the plantlets
Gladys
"Oh! Uh, okay... thank you." She gives him his space and tries again at the small talk. "Is it okay if I put some of them in here? You can have them if you like. I've enjoyed my aloe so, um... You've taken really good care of these plants." Awkward smile.
Christian
squirms a little at the unexpected compliment, feeling he doesn't quite deserve any praise since he kinda let his plants get in very bad shape in the last days
Christian
"Uh.... is.... isn't it.... d-dangerous f-for you t-to c-come here? In B-...BLU t-territ-tory?" Albeit, the greenhouse is somewhat recluse, he must admit.
Still… he knows full well there are actual dangerous people on BLU team
Gladys
looks up at him with a strange calm in her eyes. "Yes..." she says as if to say 'obviously.'
Christian
the tone of her response is for once, not lost on him
"You sh-" he stops himselfs from objecting that plants are hardly worth risking her life over. It's bad enough that he ended up speaking of this with Lloyd, he really should shut his mouth now, especially to stop himself from worrying over a RED, of all things.
tries to salvage the sentence he had begun
"y-you.... d-did get h-here dis-sc-cretely enough, t-true"
Gladys
her expression warms. "well, and facing danger is kind of in my job description, so what can be done, right?"
Christian
has to clench his jaw for a moment to stop himself from replying to that. Of course, she is fearless and cocky.... like all the others. He can't blame her. "...r-right."
He'll just have to hope this wouldn't get her killed... oh gosh and let's not think about the battlefield itself.... she's a RED... the mere thought of having to face this RED he now knew, even if so little, made him feel queasy
Christian
grabs a pouch of soil/fertilizer mix and pours a little in the bottom of the pots, as he suspects she probably hasn't enough for the transplant, even if she shares some of the mother plant's
Gladys
watches, intrigued. .w.
Christian
the silence and his awareness of the RED lady's presence makes him very nervous. He can almost feel her gaze, and takes him a lot of willpower not to try and rub the sensation of being watched tickling him in the back of the neck. He feels very slow and clumsy all of a sudden.
Gladys
sudden realization! "Oh! Uh, can I help, I'm just standing here... heh." DUR HUR.
Christian
he can see the soil mix is being very crumbly. Tests it with the tip of his ungloved hand. Yeah, bone dry.
casts a side glance at the water canister, and sees he knocked the contents out in his stumblings earlier
"Uh....I g-guess.... I guess these n-need a l-little water.... the h-heat has e-evaporat-ted the m-moisture e-ven in t-the b-bags"
Gladys
follows his quick gaze to the knocked over can. "Yeah I'll stand these in a dish to soak them when I transplant the shoots, but carrying them dry will be easier. I can fill up that container for you at least." She moves towards it to pick it up.
Christian
"uh, ok-kay... thanks"
stacks the pots and tries very much not to flinch when he feels her passing him by
Gladys
looks around before going outside. When she was sure it was clear she steps out into the growing gloom and fills the container at the spigot. "Where would you like it?" She asks from the doorway.
Christian
while Gladys was filling the canister, he has stacked the pots neatly on the table near the door and retreated back after pulling on his discarded glove but most importantly, his balaclava which had removed and left on a peg
"Oh, j-just leave it n-near the ent-trance"
fusses at his cowl, yet feels a great deal less nervous (and naked) with it on
Christian
silently vows to himself to not remove the thing anymore, any time he his outside of his room
Gladys
sees the hood and feels another pang of guilt. "Okay," she tries to sound lighthearted. It falls a little flat. Setting the water down she picks up the pots and turns to leave. "Thank you again, and... well, thank you." She bolts into the gathering darkness.
Christian
"Uh, you-" watches Gladys bolt out
"....a-are welcome" he finishes lamely
walks up to the doorframe and looks at the RED figure, disappearing in the gloom
"...et fais attention à toi"
Gladys
FEELS DUMB :C Later she would sit quietly and reflect on why she felt that way. And she would realize that it was because she wanted to connect with him, talk with him. She had only been in the burn ward for a short while before being moved to the prison hospital, she wanted to talk to him about things that only they could really begin to understand. Being burned changed you, it changed you...
...in ways inexplicable. But she had been careless and rude and that chance was gone forever.
But for now all she could do was run in the general direction of RED and try not to trip on anything as she clumsily wiped at her face with a gloved hand.
Christian
Realizes that with all that, he hasn't much of an idea of how the RED lady even looked like, he think she had red hair, but for the rest.... he's not even sure he caught her name right.... Glad-something. Gosh, that deaf RED soldier was named Glad, he remembers. It feels so distant.
Christian
He bet she was pretty and fierce-looking, judging from her voice
which makes him kinda happy he didn't catch a sight of her, he'd feel even lamer for driving her out
knocks his forehead on the doorframe and sighs, feeling terrible
Christian
turns to his flowers. At least, here is something he could salvage from this night