Dinosaurs - [Veronica]

[plantfood]

Three weeks on the island now and Mathias thinks he's ready to leave the Compound without assistance from alcohol. He stands near the front steps, watching the trees with a faintly wary gaze and waiting for Veronica. He'd asked her a few days ago to show him the dinosaurs, thinking that he'd need those few days to prepare mentally, but even with that time he's not sure just how prepared he really is. Maybe the only thing that can prepare him for going back into the jungle is actually going into the jungle. It's not ideal, but it is what it is and Mathias can no more change the island than he can change what happened to him before this place.

The weather is warm, hot and humid, and already he can feel sweat prickling his scalp, but it's a comfort to know that no matter where he goes on the island, the Compound is never far away. Despite this, despite knowing he's in no danger here, he's learned his lesson from last time and is carrying a small pack with enough water to last two weeks and several bags of nuts he's found in the kitchen. It isn't enough to survive on for longer than a few weeks, but it's more than he'd had in Mexico. Just in case anything should happen.

Around him, there's constant movement. People coming to the Compound from their homes elsewhere on the island, people leaving, fresh from showers or breakfast, clean, warm laundry piled high in baskets. There are children in the playground nearby and he watches them for a moment, watches their parents, wonders which of them came to the island on their own and which were born here. It's still strange to him, how this place exists, but it's preferable to whatever might have happened back in Mexico.

He's early, he thinks, but it gives him time to think and to watch, two things he's very good at. So he waits, his thumbs hooked tentatively in the straps of his pack, making sure not to aggravate his healing burns.

Comments

[plantfood]

"The idle and the beautiful," Mathias repeats in amusement, trying that out for size. It's certainly not wrong, as it would be difficult not to notice just how attractive most of the island residents are, but he's felt that way about most of his life. Not that he thinks he's more attractive than normal, but he's found himself surrounded by good looking people most of his life.

"Are you trying to tell me I'm attractive, yet lazy?" he asks, turning his smile over on her as they walk.

[neptune-sleuth.livejournal.com]

"I'm the beautiful part," Veronica said, gesturing to herself with a shake of her head, clearly just joking. "Someone else has to do the lazy bit, though, with all the Council work, and that's where you come in." In point of fact, she'd seen nothing to indicate whether or not that was true. These things were harder to tell on the island, where no matter how hard people worked, there was still ample free time.

They were getting deeper into the jungle now, though it was still quite a walk. With different company, it would have been unbearable, but it was almost surprisingly pleasant instead. Reaching up, she tucked her hair back out of her face from where it had been clinging to her forehead.

[plantfood]

"I guess it's true that one of us has to be the better looking one," Mathias agrees with a smile and while it's obvious he's joking as well, he is serious about just how beautiful she is. They hardly know each other, however, and he isn't sure how she'll take a compliment yet, so he leaves it for now.

"And as I do plan to be quite lazy for at least a month, I guess I can accept that, too," he adds, pushing past a low bush. It's probably silly, but he's proud of himself for keeping it together out here in the jungle.

[neptune-sleuth.livejournal.com]

"Right up until you get so bored, you don't know what to do with yourself anymore," Veronica said cheerfully, free hand ghosting over leaves and branches as she walked. One of the advantages of her height, or lack thereof, was having to duck less often than most people. "At which point, the cruise director can offer you a brochure on our many activities up on the lido deck." People got into things here they never would have at home. She couldn't imagine she would have wound up as proficient in weaponry in Neptune as she was now. At least, with the CIA, it would have been very different weaponry.

[plantfood]

"Are any of them more interesting than visiting real dinosaurs?" Mathias asks, having a hard time believing there's anything else on the island that can even compare to what they're going to see. Maybe he'll find a job or a place to work, but he isn't good at much of anything beyond being a mechanical engineer and he doesn't think they'll have much use for that on the island.

"What do people do here?" he asks curiously. "Is there work?"

[neptune-sleuth.livejournal.com]

"Depends on your definition of interesting, a lot and yes," Veronica replied after a moment, "in that order. A lot of people like to make sure not to tire themselves out by sticking to sunbathing and parties, but for anyone who actually wants to pitch in, there's work." She hadn't been at all suited to any of the other offerings, beyond the IBI, but even that wasn't much in the end. The occasions when the IBI was put to use were few and far between. The Council, though, had turned out to be a perfect fit. "The gardens, the kitchens, hunting, the school, the children's office, the lab, the clinic, the building crew..." It all worked surprisingly well.

[plantfood]

"In other words, I should be able to find something to do, yeah?" Mathias asks, smiling to himself. "I was studying to be an engineer back home, but it sounds like I'll have to find something new to do. I don't think that anyone will need me to build an engine here, will they?"

Now that he's thinking about it, though, he wonders if there is enough material on the island to possibly build cooling systems for the huts he's seen.

[neptune-sleuth.livejournal.com]

"If you can find the material," she said wryly, "someone else can find a use for it." Beyond all those official things to do, there were, after all, other ways people kept themselves occupied. Someone in the place had to have a use for something Mathias could do. They had no end of scientific geniuses, after all, who kept on prodding away at all kinds of things, like an academic free-for-all. "Why engineering?"

[plantfood]

"I wanted to make things that worked," he answers, thinking back to his school and everything he's done, everything he's learned. "At first I was thinking about aerospace engineering. Building aircrafts and space shuttles, but I decided to become a mechanical engineer. It's more about building things, making things right, making them run smoothly."

He's not quite an engineer yet, he has another year of school to finish, but it isn't going to happen now. "I guess I wasted four years of school I won't finish."

[neptune-sleuth.livejournal.com]

The answer seemed to meet her approval. "Maybe not," she said, shrugging. "I don't think anyone else here is an engineer, and we could always use help making things run a little more smoothly." That was a big part of what she was doing on the Council, after all, just in a far less technical sense. After seeing the corruption of Neptune, she couldn't help wanting to make sure that never came to Tabula Rasa. The best way she knew to keep their government honest was to be a part of it herself. "Besides, I never even made it out of high school."

[plantfood]

"And I'm sure someone out there would be pleased if I could build a cooling system for the huts, yeah?" Mathias adds with a small smile, although he's actually sort of serious about this. Not only will it give him something to do, but it's something that could benefit people should he be able to make it work.

"I guess this place is different," he says after thinking about it. "High school diplomas and university degrees don't mean as much."

[neptune-sleuth.livejournal.com]

"At the risk of sounding like a cartoon animal in a Disney cartoon," Veronica said wryly, "it's less about pieces of paper and more about being willing to play a part." Their system worked for precisely that reason. People gave the best they could and they got what they needed in return. "And I can tell you I, for one, would definitely be pleased by a cooling system. I'm moving into my own hut soon and not dying of the heat would be nice."

[plantfood]

"I could use your new place as my experiment," Mathias suggests with a little grin, not entirely serious, of course. He's not going to experiment on anyone's hut if they don't want him to, but if he's serious about creating a cooling system, he's going to need a place to test it out. "You could be the first island resident with an air conditioned hut."

[neptune-sleuth.livejournal.com]

Veronica laughed. "As long as you don't blow the place up," she said, head tilting to the side, "I think that could be arranged." She wouldn't say no to someone just trying to help out the community, after all - or to being first in line. Besides, the fact that her place was so close to the Compound could only help him. Mathias had been doing really well so far, and she didn't think they had all that much further to go, but that didn't mean it wasn't still something to take into account.

[plantfood]

"I may only be good at a few things, but building things is one of them," Mathias promises, because he's fairly sure he won't be blowing anything up. "This whole plan hinges on whether or not I can find the materials needed for something like this, of course. The plans themselves might take a few months."

But it's something. He isn't sure how well his hands will work once the burns are healed, but he won't think of that now. When the time comes, he'll do what he needs to and if he can't work, he'll find someone to do the building for him.

[neptune-sleuth.livejournal.com]

"Chances are, I'll still be here," Veronica said, smile grim as she rolled her eyes. These days, she was more and more certain she was on the island for the long haul. For the most part, that suited her just fine. Besides, if it took all that time, it would give Mathias something to do with himself. Around here, he'd need it. "Someone has to make sure you don't start coming out to see these things alone."

[plantfood]

"Is this the royal 'you' or are you really that worried about me?" Mathias asks teasingly and he almost laughs, a soft, hoarse noise in the back of his throat. It feels sort of strange and he wonders if he really hasn't laughed at all since coming to the island.

"I don't think you will need to worry about me," he adds in a reassuringly voice, although he's still smiling that same smile. "I can barely manage to go outside alone without getting drunk first."

[neptune-sleuth.livejournal.com]

"Oh, charming," Veronica said, rather than actually answering. It had come differently than she'd meant it, but there was that in there, too, that spark of worry. God only knew why, because she sure as hell didn't, anymore than she wanted to think about her mom or Logan. Of course they'd be the first thing to pop to mind, she thought. She'd thought it all so bad in Neptune. She hadn't figured Logan could get even worse. Probably she should have known better - everyone could. "I'll stop right away, in that case. Aside from my profound concern, however... this place is home now."

[plantfood]

"I am not drunk now," Mathias points out, feeling that this is necessary. He'd been drunk the first time he'd left the Compound, but only because of the party going on and it's strange, but he finds himself wanting to make a good impression on Veronica.

"There are worse places to think of as home, I expect," he adds softly, looking up at the trees again. "It seems not so bad here. Quiet for the most part."

[neptune-sleuth.livejournal.com]

Sometimes she had to take a moment to remind herself that it was okay - that one drink didn't mean anything, that not everyone was at risk to turn into her mother. That she wasn't her mother. The older she got, the harder it became.

"For the most part," she agreed, nodding. "I mean, not that we've been entirely without our share of murders and psychopaths, but hey, what's society without those? And they're a lot rarer than back where we were before." She would have said the real world, but there were some levels of irony even she didn't want to mess with. This one was realer than Neptune had ever been. "Plus we have an overabundance of cops, detectives, secret agents, soldiers, vigilantes and superheroes, so we're doing pretty good on that end."

[plantfood]

As they walk, Mathias remains silent, taking in everything Veronica is saying and trying to see how he fits into this world. He's a German mechanical engineer with someone else's face, he should be dead, and he's yet to really deal with anything that happened back in Mexico. There doesn't seem to be a niche for someone like that, but Mathias isn't prone to self-pity and so he just nods. He'll find his place in time.

"And the population seems to remain relatively small," he adds. "Even with a thousand people this place would be safer than what we came from." There's nowhere near that many people on the island from what he can tell, although he isn't sure just how large the population really is.

[neptune-sleuth.livejournal.com]

As far as Veronica could tell, most places were safer than Neptune. She wasn't about to spin the sorry tale of her life for him, though, no matter how nice he was, so she refrained from mentioning that. "People actually work together, not against each other," she said, "and the killer always gets caught. I'm still not entirely sure this is real."

[plantfood]

"Everything was done for us before this place," Mathias answers, mostly just thinking out loud. "Services and government, it all existed whether we participated or not, but here... what is the saying? You reap what you sow?"

Although he's been supported by his parents for much of his life and had to work for little, he's never been lazy. He likes to work, loves to travel and be involved and he expects his life here will be no different.

[neptune-sleuth.livejournal.com]

Whatever people said at home, it had never been true back there. In the world beyond Tabula Rasa, enough money could meaning getting away with murder - literally. Here, people actually seemed to have hearts and a willingness to help. It never ceased to amaze her, but she had, for the most part, stopped expecting the other shoe to drop. "Just so," she said, smiling a little.

[plantfood]

Considering this, Mathias smiles as well, watching his shoes as they walk. He brushes past a vine and barely even flinches, letting the tapered end trail over his fingers as he pushes it aside.

"It's good to find a place where such a mentality works," he says, reaching up to scratch his stubble thoughtfully. "Unexpected, really, but not unwelcome. I don't know that I've ever met so many people so willing to help each other out."