let's believe in something small [open and closed]

[toten_sie]

Who: Randel + others, possibly Randel + you!
Where: Lotus Street Animal Shelter, A Certain Lake, Around Town, Grocery Store
When: after that first week in town
What: a couple of 'reunions', a cat cafe, and business to do
Warnings: none so far


[closed to Pepper]
He's been looking for familiar things and comfortable places and for some reason, that's brought him to a small lake. It's brought him there a few times, actually, almost frustrating in how tantalizingly close it seems like he might be to getting something familiar. But it's during one of those walks that he spots someone else... and his legs are moving before he even realizes that he knows her name.

"Pepper?"


[closed to Izumi]
He's taken to walking a lot: sometimes in the town to see if he can remember people, and sometimes out in the park or near the woods to get away from all the things that just don't seem right. It's during one of those park walks that he spots someone who finally starts ringing a bell and those long legs eat up the distance pretty quickly.

"I know you!"


[open]
While he still doesn't remember so much of this, while he's still suspicious and awkward about so much of the life that's supposedly his, Randel's never been one to shirk when there's a job to do, which was why he'd gone to the animal shelter and gotten to. ...there may have been some time with the kittens, which the other workers hadn't begrudged him, honestly, but then there was work to do. Part of that involved heading out to the grocery store to pick up supplies, to the pet store to pick up other supplies, and the hardware store for a few odds and ends that the other two couldn't provide. There's plenty to do and Randel's actually enjoying himself, getting along well with the volunteers and other employees... and maybe he ends up taking his breaks in the cat cafe just to spend more time with the animals but no one would begrudge him that.

Things are still confusing and he really really doesn't like the signs and some of the more suspicious aspects (like Why Everyone Was In A Car Accident) but he can't see how helping animals and making people feel better could make matters worse. That said, he's keeping his eyes out... and he's keeping his lantern on him at all times.

Comments

[abetment]

The ridiculous tease came out so naturally, and Katherine almost feels a little silly for it. Her style of flirtatiousness is usually more refined: maybe the town really has had her drawn up as leaning slightly more toward the immature. Human teenagers and young adults, after all.

Her smile holds when he looks at her, brightening when he starts to reply. A soft laugh that blossoms into a giggle over his continuation of the joking. If he entertains her teasing like that on the regular, it's no surprise that she likes being around Randel.

"Better now that I ran into you. It's...been awhile, it feels like. I was..." she sets the hammer down onto an open tray of common nails, disregarding its true home (it gives the employees something to do!), "in an accident a month ago, but. All better now." The start of grin, forehead creasing just so. "How about you? Are you doing okay, Randel? You seem in good spirits to me." Always the overtalker.

[toten_sie]

Randel doesn't say anything as he reaches down to put the hammer back where it belongs, but his face clouds up a little at the mention of Katherine's accident. For one, it's another piece of evidence that this town doesn't make sense. For another, he doesn't like the idea of anything bad happening to Katherine, not at all.

"I was in the hospital a few days ago. Accident." She can figure out where he's going there.

[abetment]

Her lips purse out, slightly, when she sees him move the hammer back to its home. Tidy, considerate: he's a sweetheart, isn't he? Ah, yes, the consideration of how it felt nice to dive into a friendship with someone who she, at least, felt wore their heart on their sleeve. It's endearing, or so her townie self thinks.

Katherine's barely looked away from him other than a cursory glance when Randel makes movement, and her brows furrow together when he answers. "Were you?" She absolutely knows where he's going, yep. And yet, she finds herself continuing to care. "How are you feeling now? Are you...by yourself? At home?" Where's his home again? Hm, that she can't remember, and if they were friends, certainly she visited his family's house before. Would he be in the same place as when they were all apparently high schoolers?

[toten_sie]

"That's what they told me," he says, and there's a quiet note of disbelief underneath what could almost sound like complacency if you weren't paying attention. Randel can be very sweet, but he'd be the first to tell anyone that he's not necessarily always nice.

"And I'm pretty average, other than the memory loss." A tilt of his head and a shrug. "My house seems to be empty other than me and occasionally, a cat."

Which makes it feel more like home than anything in it or the walls or any of it.

"I saw Damon earlier."

[abetment]

Oh. That takes her aback, noticeably, before she tries to recover with a slow inward breath. "You did? I...hope he was, nice, to you?" What are you going to do if he wasn't, Katherine? Why wouldn't Damon be? They're supposed to be making good impressions! Why is she posing statements like that, insinuating that Damon's falling short? The feelings associated with false memories are tangling together, streaks of anger and jealousy for her now beloved spouse twisting up. She realizes that and shakes her head, reaching out in front of her, tugging at the finger of a pair of orange work gloves. "No, I know he must have been." Right?

"More importantly," she begins with very little pause, "I'm glad to hear you say that, rather than that you're feeling bad. The memories, they'll come back. Maybe just, not exactly how you'd want them to. But, they will." She offers him a smile. "A cat, though? A stray? I don't remember there being any cats around your place before." Neither here nor there, since they were never actually...there, before, in the first place. Maybe her false self just hadn't paid attention. "So do you ever have dinner company other than the cat?" Another tease.

[toten_sie]

"He was very helpful," Randel assures her, clearly looking a little upset at having caused her such distress. He'd had no idea she would be that worried, about him especially. No, it's probably about Damon. That makes more sense. "Gave me your cellphone and told me I should give you a call. I gave him mine for the both of you. I'm sure he'll pass it on when you see him."

But the rest of what she says utterly confuses him. No cats? No animals? That's literally the only part of this place that's felt at all right, and he didn't have a cat? Or maybe his mind is just playing tricks on him.

No, he doesn't think so.

"The people are more important than anything," he finally decides on, and that includes her. He's still so very very wary of the memories that feel wrongright and don't all fit together but the people who've become a part of his life because of them... he's selfish, terribly selfish, and he doesn't want to let them go. Katherine included there too.

"But no, no one but the cat."

[abetment]

In a later conversation, Damon will essentially tell her to make sure to keep her perceptions that come from the memories the town bestows them separate from what they know to be reality. Is she slipping and letting them affect her, more than she realizes? Katherine's chin lifts slightly as Randel assures her that all is well and fine. Truth is, she was a little worried Damon had been rude; her husband can be moody and volatile. Less so those days, or, he has more self-control, anyway. A smile lights back up on her face. "Did he? Well, I'm glad. I'll be sure to get your number from him."

She's had but a cursory glimpse into the past when it comes to the man beside her. So, what business is it of Katherine's to say he didn't have kitty cats roaming around back in the day, if he ever really lived there?

Sensing that the words she spoke may have been taken him aback, somewhat, she leans over to nudge her arm against his. "Maybe there was a cat or two. You like them a lot, don't you?" Does he? Er, she's not certain why she said it, other than to stroke that part of the conversation, if it fits into what feels natural for him. "We could always do dinner again sometime, too. I mean. Well, you know what I mean." Again? Friends enjoy meals together, no? Her brows pop slightly. "Maybe out, even, unless cooking in sounds like fun to you."

Continuing with being purposefully kind, until he gives her any reason to act otherwise. Also, is she trying to invite herself over to your house, Randel??

[toten_sie]

"I like most animals," he points out to her question, but even he would admit, with a little wobble of his shoulders, "but cats like me." Which makes sense, since he's generally a pretty soothing presence who's more than happy to pamper them with food and attention in return for companionship and warmth. As far as he's concerned, crazy cat man is better than he deserves.

Onto other topics, though. That's a better bet. Mostly because he knows that if he says anything of the like, Katherine will disagree with him. Vehemently. Both she and Pepper seem to think he's a much better person than he happens to believe himself to be. It's...

He appreciates it, the thought of it, even if it makes him sad. Feels like he's deceiving them. They don't know what kind of monster he is, after all. The man they knew here is not the man from the battlefield. That man died there, no matter what they want to believe.

"But we should definitely do dinner. I'd offer to cook, but my expertise ends at, well-" vegetarian fare. He doesn't usually eat meat. "Maybe we could do takeout?"

Since there's clearly a desire to stay in?

[abetment]

Katherine's priority list has never included putting much thought into caring about animals, but she's not a hateful person! So, she listens, nodding. If he genuinely likes cats so much, and they like him (animals are good judges of character...and what humans can provide them the most), maybe he really is as much of a sweetheart as she's feeling that he is.

He doesn't know it, but her knowing what his past pre-Wayward Pines was? Wouldn't sully the still new, backed up by memories that feel older than she should freely admit, opinion she has of Randel. Katherine doesn't have attitudes like that. People are who they are, you adapt based on what life throws at you. She always has, and she will, no matter what. She's a survivor, and if he was an active soldier of any kind? He's a survivor too.

When he goes along with her suggestion, of course there's a smile, and her brows rise when he cuts off. "What? You don't think you're any worse than me, do you? I think I was the only person in a five year time frame who almost didn't pass home ec simply from being just that bad at anything on the stove." Ha ha -- it's a silly comment rather than anything brought on by memories too, but maybe it was true! Katherine does not cook. "I like takeout just fine, though.

"And my schedule's pretty free, too." A perk of her smile. "So, whenever you want." A beat. "Just the two of us?" Is that hope in her tone?

[toten_sie]

"The trick is to avoid the stove," says the man who'd live on salad and bread his entire life if he was allowed to. After all, you can put beans in salads and then you've got your protein. Why fuss with a stove? Of course, it's also teasing her, because those hazy memories of here tell him exactly how bad things had gone in Home Ec, including one where he'd had to run for the fire extinguisher. And fire... he doesn't like fire, he knows that. He's not sure why.

"Just the two of us. Take out of your choice."

[abetment]

She laughs, almost sincere in it, wry edge all the same. "'S what I've always tried to do. Worked out pretty okay for me so far." Katherine, definitely not domestic at all.

A shorter laugh, a chuckle really, when he answers with that. She leans over into him, bumping his shoulder. It's cute. Their friendship is cute. Since when does she like cute. "I'll give you a call then. Pull you out of whatever's taking up your time that day. Such a busy town we've got here, huh?" A smirk, tone friendly but sarcastic.

"It was good, seeing you again, Randel. Let me know if you need anything, okay?" As if she's a helper. They both might know she's saying it purely as a means of drawing his attention to herself; she likes the feel of offering, rather than really coming through (unless he was in danger, or something. She's not cruel.)

With a final smile, a see you later after he replies, she's off to...process having a friend who looms so large, yet seems like he could be sweet. What a weird town.

[toten_sie]

"I literally herd cats," he reminds her mildly with a bit of a grin. The place might not be busy but there's certain kinds of gently-busy that he has and actually, to some degree, enjoys.

But then they're saying their goodbyes and he's waving to her, considering this new addition to his memories and the strange story of who-he-is-here.