001 || Video

[neverleftharlan]

[On comes the video. A handsome man in his early forties, wearing a Stetson, staring the screen down with the kind of suspicion typically reserved for interrogations.

And for about ten seconds that is all he does. When he speaks, it's with a thick Kentucky accent.]

I suppose, now I'm thinking about it, using this means of communication is an acknowledgement that this is in fact happening and I am not higher than a summer kite or having a trauma-induced hallucination of some kind. S'funny, I didn't figure myself as the type, but I suppose one never does.

I'm going to find a drink. Somewhere in this… [A pause that stretches long enough to indicate he's at a loss for words.] Extremely creative venture into the deep recesses of my apparently disturbed psyche. Because god knows if I'm in my head, there's got to be a puddle around here somewheres.

Comments

[nolimitation]

[ She inclines her head in polite acknowledgement of a colleague. Somehow she's not surprised. ] Agent Olivia Dunham. FBI. Sorry to meet you under these circumstances, marshal.

[neverleftharlan]

[He immediately straightens and raises his own eyebrows.]

FBI. [It comes out slowly, like he's sounding out the name of a foreign country.] You either do a masterful job of pretending to be smart or they've gotten worse at screening out the good ones. I'll keep that particular failing between us, if you so desire.

[nolimitation]

[ A wry smile. As a liaison, she got used to interdepartmental rivalries, friendly and otherwise, and she's found it's best to take it with a sense of humor either way. ] I'd appreciate that. We can't all make the marshal service, after all.

[neverleftharlan]

[He smothers a smile, immediately adding her to the ranks of the tolerable feebs.] Could always put in a word for you, once we're Stateside again.

[For all the good it would do.]

Water sector. By my guess that would mean it's blue.

[nolimitation]

Thanks, but I like the job I have now. Even if it doesn't exactly have the glamor of chasing down fugitives and serving warrants.

[ Amused: ] It's blue and full of water. Trust me, you'll know once you get here. The foreigner suits in any sector aren't difficult to find - if you want to meet me, we can walk from there.

[neverleftharlan]

Protecting your federal witnesses and judiciary aside, of course. [Crooked smile. He tilts his hat back and huffs out a sigh.] I suppose with the substantial skills I've built through chasing down fugitives and serving warrants, I should be able to find your front door. Have a number, or should I inquire after the pretty blonde with a knowledge of primary colors?

[nolimitation]

Honestly, I'm not sure that would get you very far... but it shouldn't be necessary. Building 2A. Don't make me send out search parties, alright?

video >>> action

[neverleftharlan]

No ma'am.

[It doesn't take him too terribly long to get to the proper sector and the proper set of buildings, though he feels that particular strangeness that comes with being the outsider. Like you're walking wrong, or carrying yourself in a way that gets noticed - he hates it, usually barrels forward with the kind of force that demands his surroundings adapt, but he's off-center enough that swagger or none, he can't manage it.

So here he is, at building 2A, six feet of Kentucky lawman in a cowboy hat, completely unsure of what to do next.]

Re: video >>> action

[nolimitation]

[ Olivia's not waiting outside, not knowing how long it'll actually take him to get from where he is to her building, but she has stationed herself near a window where she can see anyone approaching the building fairly clearly. Before he's been out there long, she steps out the door, slow cautious steps balanced with her cane. ]

You made it. I guess those marshal skills do come in handy after all.

[neverleftharlan]

On occasion. [Raylan closes the distance between them before she can go far, a silent courtesy. He's been injured in the line of duty and he's not about to forget his manners just because of their current situation. He doesn't so much as glance at the cane - if he were still limping along he wouldn't want a stranger's commentary.] Though if you can save me the trouble of deducing where the nearest watering hole is, I'd be much obliged.

[nolimitation]

[ The lack of reaction to the cane is a relief - it's hard not to be self-conscious about it when she's so used to being self-sufficient. She inclines her head, silent indication for him to follow as she turns and starts down the street. ]

That I can definitely do. It happens to be one of the more popular questions when people first arrive. I can't really blame anyone for it, either.

[neverleftharlan]

Good to know folks who've ended up here have at least some sense to 'em. [He's scanning the road and the people on it constantly as they walk - amble would be a better word for what Raylan is doing. He glances down at Olivia.] Tell me they got something like bourbon.

[nolimitation]

I haven't looked for bourbon specifically, but I think we can probably find some kind of substitute. I'd be careful, though. Kedan have faster metabolisms than we do, so their alcohol's stronger.

[neverleftharlan]

[This time his look brims with good-natured amusement.] I'm from Kentucky.

[nolimitation]

[ She tilts her head a little, giving him a somewhat bemused look of her own. ] And you have superhuman livers down in Kentucky?

[neverleftharlan]

You cut us, we bleed moonshine. [He watches a green-skinned, four-limbed kedan walk past with the same expression an elder might use on a kid with too many tattoos, before dragging his focus back to Olivia witha deep breath.]

[nolimitation]

We'll see about that. [ Olivia tracks his gaze to the kedan, and her smile turns a little sympathetic. ] I take it you've never dealt with anything like this before?

[neverleftharlan]

So we will.

[He is not afraid.

There are three, maybe four times in Raylan's life when fear has won out over other impulses - and only one when it addled him to the point of panic. This isn't a doghole mine and he isn't a boy, and there is no reason or excuse to fall apart.

He's been quiet too long. Raylan resettles his hat.] Am I to assume from the question that you have?

[nolimitation]

[ She tilts her head for a moment, considering possible responses. Preferably ones that won't make her sound like she's insane. ]

Not this exactly - [ She gestures to a passing kedan, bright magenta with feathers, for explanation of what she means by 'this'. ] - but most of the cases I've worked over the last year or so are... pretty far out of the ordinary. Let's just say the whole parallel universe thing wasn't really a surprise for me by the time I got here.

[neverleftharlan]

[He gives her a helpless look.] If you say X-Files I'm calling bullshit.

[nolimitation]

We call it Fringe Division these days. [ From her calm, even expression, it's impossible to tell if she's joking or not. ]

[neverleftharlan]

[Muttered:] And my cousin's name is Boba Fett.

You know-- [He comes to a full stop, forcing a kedan with a basket of goods to swerve around him.] I'm too old for this shit. The world doesn't get to go sideways like this, not now, for Chrissake, there's enough normal crap I ain't figured out yet. But no, there's no questions asked, no "excuse me marshal, but we'd like to snatch you out of house and home and piss on your view of normalcy for a bit, how's that by you?" That would be an inconvenience to request I'm sure. Where's this bar, much farther?

[nolimitation]

[ Olivia stops with him, looking into his eyes with an expression that's suddenly deeply sympathetic - she remembers this feeling, like standing on the edge of a cliff, just realizing how much there is you don't know and just wanting to forget you ever realized in the first place. ]

No one ever asks, Marshal. It's always like this - one day something happens, and you don't understand the world anymore, and since walking away isn't an option in this case... you adapt.

[ Pause. ] Alcohol does help, though. It's just around the corner.

[neverleftharlan]

[The sympathy is easily as unsettling as everything else. He looks away, to the canals and blue walkways and the kedan, and winces. The sky is neutral. So are his boots.

Instead of answering, Raylan starts walking again, turning the nearest corner toward the evening chatter of a bar opening for business. If he doesn't meet anyone's eyes it could almost be some Lexington tourist trap, done up around a theme as an excuse to charge more and keep the students and hillbillies away. He slides up to the bar itself with a sigh. It's low, more like a counter, but close enough for government work.

Raylan very carefully keeps his eyes on Olivia instead of taking in his surroundings, though he has to fight his instincts to manage it. He wants to know who's there and in what positions, who they're watching, if they're armed, but keeping a tight hold on sanity feels like the priority.]

[nolimitation]

[ Olivia can't exactly blame him for that reaction - after all, she did more or less the same thing when Broyles cornered her at Harvard. She follows him, falling a bit behind with the pace her leg forces her to keep, but catching up at the bar before too long and sliding into the seat beside him.

The bartender recognizes her and ambles over with a too-wide Cheshire cat grin - Olivia's accustomed enough to the oddities of kedan that she barely notices. ] My friend here's wondering if you have something like bourbon. It's a whiskey, it's made from... Do you even have corn here?