[ Possibly the single greatest moment of his life so far, though as soon as they find Avery's gold, they'll top it. This isn't a hard choice. Reaching out for her hand, he closes his eyes and does his best to remember it exactly how it happened. It wasn't that long ago--it's gotta be pretty close, even if some parts might elide.
It's gorgeous there to begin with, a world of rotted-out buildings grown over with God knows what (he's a treasure hunter, not a botanist), but the promise of a way out of this particular structure's more beautiful than anything else he can think of. Sam's tired and sweaty, but the kind of tired other people get from a good workout at the gym: plenty of energy left, but the sense that he's accomplished something worthwhile.
Not that he's thinking about what's behind them. They still haven't found it, after decades of dreaming, years of searching, weeks spent jetting around with Victor, and one very pissed-off wife. And that means that everything that really matters lies ahead--provided they can just find the goddamned city.
Nathan finds an old crate (who knew casters dated back this far?), Sam leaps up through a centuries-old doorway, and the whole world opens up. Blue sky, endless greenery, and in the mist of a humid day off the coast of Africa? There it is. Past the rafters and rotting ceiling, the warped floorboards of this old wreck of a building, there's another just like it. And another. And another. They walk forward with the reverence of a priest at a saint's tomb, taking in the whole shape of it, the breadth of the ruins before them.
Nathan says it for him, everything he sees with his own eyes, and Sam takes it as proof that he's not just hallucinating this: they aren't houses. These are shops, meeting-places, the agora of a society that vanished long before either of them were born. And Sam presses, a kind of giddiness bubbling up inside his chest, makes him keep talking. Sure, a little of it is him being a dick--all right, a lot of it is--but if Nathan hangs the name on it, it'll be real. They both know it.
"You just wanna hear me say it, don't you?"
"Really wanna hear you say it."
"All right. Libertalia."
"Libertalia! The long-lost, legendary pirate utopia. Discovered, after three hundred years, by one Samuel Drake--" ]
[It's just like a movie, is the only thing she can think when the memory ends. Now it's turn to be in total awe, struck momentarily silent by it. No wonder he loves this. No wonder he gets that particular tone in his voice whenever he talks about his adventures. Her grip on his hand tightens impulsively.]
Holy shit, Sam. That's fucking incredible. I wish I could see something like that.
[And it's right there, in this midst of this adorable bonding moment, that the Cockblock Express rolls on through. Sam and Kyna's only warning is a sudden rattle at the front door, seconds before Wade bursts on through with all the subtlety and discretion of Cosmo Kramer.]
Loo-cy, I'm hooo-oh.
[Wade's bombastic Desi Arnaz impression falls instantly flat as he realizes that there's a visitor to their little bachelor pad, and he has the presence of mind to look sheepish at his outburst.]
[ Sam's leaning in close, his broad hand enveloping hers, thinking don't kiss her don't kiss her don't kiss her, she's had a shitty day or two, but goddamn, he can feel how much she loved that. She's a knockout even when she's hungover, when she looks at him like that.
He's opening his mouth to say something clever, you just did, but maybe also to add they should figure out how to sneak out of these cities, try to find where Libertalia was before the world got completely screwed over--and then Wade bursts in.
Sam startles like a teenager getting caught with his hand up a girl's shirt, letting go of Kyna as his attention snaps toward the doorway. ]
You remember Kyna. [ Cool, calm, and maybe just a touch annoyed. And, you know, like he's remembering that half his breakfast's sitting on the counter, getting cold, he gets up and wanders over to find it, a class act in boxer shorts and a shirt that somehow already looks a little worn. There's a mostly empty bottle of tequila on the coffee table still, and a whole lot of leftover food on the kitchen counters. NBD. ]
[Kyna, for her part, is utterly unbothered by this, minus a bit of disappointment—she really wanted to see more cool ruins. She gets a hint of annoyance from Sam before he pulls away, though, and it throws her. Then Sam's getting up and she's blinking after him, mouth twisting.]
[Wade rolls his shoulder in a shrug, leaning against the doorframe.]
Hey, 's no big deal. I've been there-- sometimes you go on a wild tear and need a place to bed down for the night. Only wish I knew in advance 'cause I would've cleaned the place up a little more-- kinda what happens when you get three dudes livin' in an apartment together, y'know?
[ Okay, maybe someone could stand to vacuum, but that's gotta be true of half the houses on the planet. He makes himself another breakfast taco from what's left of the eggs and beans and rice on his plate, the ingredients cooled enough that they're starting to deserve the description "congealed," and leans against the counter as he takes a bite. ]
[ But his mouth's full of room-temperature breakfast taco, a hand held under it in hopes of catching anything that falls out, so it comes out a little more muffled. ]
You're breakin' my heart over here, man! At the very least eat it with some modicum of dignity and not like you're a death row prisoner on suicide watch!
[He huffs out a theatrically discouraged sigh before turning back to Kyna.]
I just figured if he was in the company of such a charming lady he's gotta have something goin' for him, y'know?
[ And also plenty of taco squashed into his mouth. Sam swallows the last of it and wipes his hands on his boxers before he starts walking back toward the couch, a baleful eye on Wade. ]
And no gag reflex, apparently. Breakfast etiquette aside, I think I might've found another one of your good points.
[A wink in Sam's direction before he shifts back to the conversation at hand. Wade crosses the room to sit beside Kyna, making a show of looking her over with a scrutinizing eye.]
Hmm... well. Aside from the fact that you're gorgeous, which is pretty much a given... I don't know if I'm really in a position to judge here. I only just met you, after all. Wanna weigh in on this, Sam? You're probably more the expert on her'n I am, after all.
Seriously? I'm givin' you an opportunity to sing your lady friend's praises and you're not gonna take it? What, do I gotta put the ball on the tee for you?
[He turns back to Kyna, shaking his head in disgust.]
I understand havin' a soft heart for hard-luck cases, but this one seems like a lost cause, doll. Might wanna just quit while you're ahead.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2020-11-23 02:16 am (UTC)[ Well. Enough, anyway. Not as many as Nathan, but he'll be damned if he doesn't make up for lost time from here on out. ]
You wanna see something from way back, or something more recent?
no subject
Date: 2020-11-23 02:35 am (UTC)[And she offers him her hand again.]
no subject
Date: 2020-11-23 03:22 am (UTC)[ Possibly the single greatest moment of his life so far, though as soon as they find Avery's gold, they'll top it. This isn't a hard choice. Reaching out for her hand, he closes his eyes and does his best to remember it exactly how it happened. It wasn't that long ago--it's gotta be pretty close, even if some parts might elide.
It's gorgeous there to begin with, a world of rotted-out buildings grown over with God knows what (he's a treasure hunter, not a botanist), but the promise of a way out of this particular structure's more beautiful than anything else he can think of. Sam's tired and sweaty, but the kind of tired other people get from a good workout at the gym: plenty of energy left, but the sense that he's accomplished something worthwhile.
Not that he's thinking about what's behind them. They still haven't found it, after decades of dreaming, years of searching, weeks spent jetting around with Victor, and one very pissed-off wife. And that means that everything that really matters lies ahead--provided they can just find the goddamned city.
Nathan finds an old crate (who knew casters dated back this far?), Sam leaps up through a centuries-old doorway, and the whole world opens up. Blue sky, endless greenery, and in the mist of a humid day off the coast of Africa? There it is. Past the rafters and rotting ceiling, the warped floorboards of this old wreck of a building, there's another just like it. And another. And another. They walk forward with the reverence of a priest at a saint's tomb, taking in the whole shape of it, the breadth of the ruins before them.
Nathan says it for him, everything he sees with his own eyes, and Sam takes it as proof that he's not just hallucinating this: they aren't houses. These are shops, meeting-places, the agora of a society that vanished long before either of them were born. And Sam presses, a kind of giddiness bubbling up inside his chest, makes him keep talking. Sure, a little of it is him being a dick--all right, a lot of it is--but if Nathan hangs the name on it, it'll be real. They both know it.
"You just wanna hear me say it, don't you?"
"Really wanna hear you say it."
"All right. Libertalia."
"Libertalia! The long-lost, legendary pirate utopia. Discovered, after three hundred years, by one Samuel Drake--" ]
no subject
Date: 2020-11-23 03:56 am (UTC)Holy shit, Sam. That's fucking incredible. I wish I could see something like that.
no subject
Date: 2020-11-23 03:47 pm (UTC)Loo-cy, I'm hooo-oh.
[Wade's bombastic Desi Arnaz impression falls instantly flat as he realizes that there's a visitor to their little bachelor pad, and he has the presence of mind to look sheepish at his outburst.]
Shit, sorry. Forgot we were having company over.
no subject
Date: 2020-11-23 04:03 pm (UTC)He's opening his mouth to say something clever, you just did, but maybe also to add they should figure out how to sneak out of these cities, try to find where Libertalia was before the world got completely screwed over--and then Wade bursts in.
Sam startles like a teenager getting caught with his hand up a girl's shirt, letting go of Kyna as his attention snaps toward the doorway. ]
You remember Kyna. [ Cool, calm, and maybe just a touch annoyed. And, you know, like he's remembering that half his breakfast's sitting on the counter, getting cold, he gets up and wanders over to find it, a class act in boxer shorts and a shirt that somehow already looks a little worn. There's a mostly empty bottle of tequila on the coffee table still, and a whole lot of leftover food on the kitchen counters. NBD. ]
no subject
Date: 2020-11-23 05:21 pm (UTC)Uh, hi.
[She turns back to Wade, shifting on the couch.]
Thanks for letting me crash here.
no subject
Date: 2020-12-02 06:38 pm (UTC)Hey, 's no big deal. I've been there-- sometimes you go on a wild tear and need a place to bed down for the night. Only wish I knew in advance 'cause I would've cleaned the place up a little more-- kinda what happens when you get three dudes livin' in an apartment together, y'know?
no subject
Date: 2020-12-06 01:58 pm (UTC)[ Okay, maybe someone could stand to vacuum, but that's gotta be true of half the houses on the planet. He makes himself another breakfast taco from what's left of the eggs and beans and rice on his plate, the ingredients cooled enough that they're starting to deserve the description "congealed," and leans against the counter as he takes a bite. ]
no subject
Date: 2020-12-06 07:28 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-12-15 12:50 am (UTC)[He doesn't bother to clarify whether that's a joke or not, already distracted by Sam's very blatant pilfering of his leftovers.]
Hey, c'mon dude. If you're gonna eat my breakfast at least have the decency to heat it up the way God intended, yeah?
[He turns back to Kyna with a roll of his eyes, dropping his voice to a more conspiratorial volume.]
Some people, am I right? Hope for your sake he's got qualities that make up for his lack of decorum.
no subject
Date: 2020-12-15 04:19 pm (UTC)[ But his mouth's full of room-temperature breakfast taco, a hand held under it in hopes of catching anything that falls out, so it comes out a little more muffled. ]
no subject
Date: 2020-12-18 11:18 pm (UTC)[She shoots that at Sam, tone still playful, before turning back to Wade.]
What do you mean, for my sake?
no subject
Date: 2020-12-30 01:11 am (UTC)[He huffs out a theatrically discouraged sigh before turning back to Kyna.]
I just figured if he was in the company of such a charming lady he's gotta have something goin' for him, y'know?
no subject
Date: 2020-12-31 03:53 pm (UTC)[ And also plenty of taco squashed into his mouth. Sam swallows the last of it and wipes his hands on his boxers before he starts walking back toward the couch, a baleful eye on Wade. ]
no subject
Date: 2020-12-31 08:12 pm (UTC)Ooh, I'm charming. Tell me more about how charming I am.
no subject
Date: 2021-01-01 02:41 pm (UTC)[A wink in Sam's direction before he shifts back to the conversation at hand. Wade crosses the room to sit beside Kyna, making a show of looking her over with a scrutinizing eye.]
Hmm... well. Aside from the fact that you're gorgeous, which is pretty much a given... I don't know if I'm really in a position to judge here. I only just met you, after all. Wanna weigh in on this, Sam? You're probably more the expert on her'n I am, after all.
[It's clear he's enjoying this way too much.]
no subject
Date: 2021-01-01 03:25 pm (UTC)[ Wow, Wade, that spot on the couch was his. He veers off toward a chair, rolling his eyes, and flops in it with one bare leg dangling over the arm. ]
You wanna know about Kyna, talk to her. [ Gesturing at her, naturally. ] She's right there, y'know.
no subject
Date: 2021-01-01 04:18 pm (UTC)"Gorgeous" is high praise, especially when I'm kind of hungover.
no subject
Date: 2021-01-06 02:24 pm (UTC)Seriously? I'm givin' you an opportunity to sing your lady friend's praises and you're not gonna take it? What, do I gotta put the ball on the tee for you?
[He turns back to Kyna, shaking his head in disgust.]
I understand havin' a soft heart for hard-luck cases, but this one seems like a lost cause, doll. Might wanna just quit while you're ahead.
no subject
Date: 2021-01-06 03:49 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-01-11 12:47 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-01-15 07:00 pm (UTC)Oh no. I'm hopeless, babe. No need to speculate about that. Sam at least has some redeeming qualities. Maybe. Just gotta do some digging.
[He tosses another wink Sam's way. How's he doing with the wingmanning, dude?]
no subject
Date: 2021-01-17 02:22 pm (UTC)Sounds like you took temet nosce to heart.
no subject
Date: 2021-01-17 06:56 pm (UTC)[Apparently it's embarrass Sam time.]
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