Homeless, Mun's been looking at this Facility....

[oldstrangersvoice]

Listen, kid. Now I don't mind being here entirely. Nice fine mind you've got, you'll make your city's mancers... or whatever you've been calling them...proud. I'm touched I remind you of another old man you used to know, too.

But that don't mean I'm eager to be shipping off to that place you're so fond of. Give it a think through before you make any...rash decisions. You got two fine gentlemen and that young lady of yours already living in that place, ain't really room for a spare.

Not like I'd fit in, anyhow. That's a place for fighting men. My fighting days are long over.

Comments

[masonry]

Mm.

[ Kid makes a slight face at the question. He’d rather not talk about what's going on where he's currently stationed. At the very least, he hasn’t died there yet. That was always a plus. ]

Well enough. You? 'Sides from maybe goin' somewhere, I mean.

[oldstrangersvoice]

That kinda place, huh. [He bends back, free hand on his lower back. He sighs, looking for somewhere to sit]

let me find a place to rest my bones, we'll chat for a spell. [He sits, letting out a contented sigh]

Huh. Look at me, going to ask whether the forge is hot. We're a long way from home, kid.

[masonry]

[ Quietly: ] I miss it.

[ And in more ways than one. A lot may have happened, back home, but it still had the comfort of being familiar. Now he was stranded in a place he could have never even imagined existed, and definitely not in a good way. ]

[oldstrangersvoice]

So do I, kid. I miss the city more, of course, but... The Bastion was your proper home. You fought for it. You deserved it, more than any of us.

From the looks of things, I won't be stuck in this between place all too long, either. This boy's far too far of his "facility."

fancy word for just another rock in the sky.

[masonry]

Suppose so. But we all deserved it. We're all that's left.

[ A beat. ]

... Facility, huh? What's it like?

[oldstrangersvoice]

Hmmmm... Ain't much to tell. Bunch of sorry folks floating up in that rock in the stars, dealing with all manner of unkindness.

[He shakes his head] Course, it's my own fault for getting involved. Mother, but I couldn't have picked a first time to pipe up in this mun's mind. Reading over his shoulder, so to speak, I was... Looking over the situation. I said, "if there's any way I can help"... You know, me and running my mouth.

Lucky for me I got at least a month of cooling my heels before he makes the call.

[masonry]

... Sounds like the town I'm at.

[ Though that worries him, he gives a weak smile once Rucks tells his story. ]

Maybe you'll get lucky and won't have to deal with all that trouble then.

[oldstrangersvoice]

Yeah. Can't help feeling bad, though. Seems mighty selfish to sit round here, taking up space.

Where's that then? Anywhere we've heard of?

[masonry]

No. Nothin' like I've ever heard.

[ He shakes his head. ]

Mayfield. I think that's the name.

[oldstrangersvoice]

Hmmm. You might be right. Seems like the kinda place needs someone like you. [He smiles] You'll have a hell of a story to tell, kid.