withtheoldbreed: (devil at my heels)
E. B. Sledge ([personal profile] withtheoldbreed) wrote2015-05-23 07:53 pm

d-day + 187 through 193 ✯ spam

[Open Spam, throughout Port]

[Gene doesn't regret joining the Marines - God help him, it's true - but there's no doubt that the Army, Air Force and Navy guys over in Europe have the better deal when it comes to leave. There's no Paris or Rome to liberate in the Pacific, no London to be shipped back to for R&R, just the shitty shacks and tents on Pavuvu, overrun with land crabs and rats and still reeking of rotting coconuts.

So the idea of actually getting to explore the city - especially now that there's no war on, no Nazis running the place or snipers to look out for - is kind of neat, even if Gene's not so sure it's enough to really make up for the ship seeming like it was falling apart. Or the last port.

But he still hits the town - in civvies, probably for the first time since getting on board the ship - and does his best to enjoy himself. He doesn't speak French well enough to really communicate with anyone, but Snafu does, and they're so used to being in each other's company that it just makes sense to team up anyway... even if Snaf nearly gets them kicked out of at least one museum.

Because Gene's that kind of tourist - he gets up as close as people are still allowed to be to the Eiffel Tower and goes to the Arc de Triomphe, visits the Louvre and eats at some of the more modestly priced restaurants, walks along the Seine and finds himself oddly drawn to war memorials and places he recognizes from pictures when the city had fallen to the Nazis.

He can also be found in book shops and staring with mild confusion at the Apple Store. This Paris is very different from the one he imagines his brother had seen. Everyone's on their phones and looks different from what he's used to, and it's not bad, but he feels out of place. He has no idea with how Steve coped with waking up seventy or so years in the future, because even just this is very, very eerie.]
tucky: (we simply took your libido)

[personal profile] tucky 2015-05-25 04:42 am (UTC)(link)
[Oh look, it's Dillon's clone. Tiffany runs into him outside the Apple Store - she's neither going in nor coming out, just passing by, but she recognizes Gene from the Barge and notes the confused look on his face.]

You lost?
tucky: (no names were changed)

[personal profile] tucky 2015-05-25 05:02 am (UTC)(link)
Ain't you from the past? This is modern day; my modern day.
tucky: (in the old days of about ten minutes ago)

[personal profile] tucky 2015-05-25 05:07 am (UTC)(link)
Oh, yeah. Y'all didn't even have computers back then.

Wanna go in and look? Or you wanna see my iPad?
tucky: (I'm like Mozart)

[personal profile] tucky 2015-05-25 05:11 am (UTC)(link)
Yeah. It's a tablet, not a smartphone.

[She pulls it out and shows him. Her background is set as a picture of her and Merlin, her dear departed warden.]

See? It's got photos, music, games, a calendar...
tucky: (go back on your meds)

[personal profile] tucky 2015-05-25 05:24 am (UTC)(link)
No way. I never had one before this month. They're expensive.
badgerms: (✵ we ripped off all our clothes)

[personal profile] badgerms 2015-05-25 05:25 am (UTC)(link)
[Snafu - also dressed in civilian clothes and looking unusually clean - has been kind of a pain so far. It's a good thing he's never really been anything else in the entire time Gene's known him because at least the other marine is used to it. He speaks French fine - Cajun French, not French French, so there have been a few cultural differences - and his extensive knowledge of swear words and obscenities have been getting a work out. It's honestly kind of a miracle he hasn't managed to get them actually kicked out of anywhere or in any fights yet.

There's still time though.

Anyway, right now, he's hanging around outside the Grande Galerie de l'Évolution, calling out occasionally to passing women and grinning when they get huffy about it, smoking and waiting impatiently for Sledge to be done looking at dead animals.]
tucky: (would Oprah do that?)

[personal profile] tucky 2015-05-25 05:37 am (UTC)(link)
This is a city. There's lots of rich people here.

[She slides the iPad back into her purse.]

You could get a phone or tablet if you wanted.
badgerms: (✵ that is being led)

[personal profile] badgerms 2015-05-25 05:53 am (UTC)(link)
[Snaf's sharply amused grin smooths into something more lazily cocky at the sound of Gene's voice and he takes a drag on his cigarette before shrugging.]

Couple'a broads looked like they wanted to.

[It's probably good you arrived when you did, Gene.]
badgerms: (♦ should i think it's a big mistake?)

[personal profile] badgerms 2015-05-25 06:30 am (UTC)(link)
[Snaf watches Gene for a couple moments while he lights his cigarette and starts to smoke.]

Long as it ain't another fuckin' museum, I ain't that fussy.

[If Gene really wanted to see one, he'd probably go but this is a sign that he will complain endlessly if you try to make him go right now.]
badgerms: (❂ yeah that's why i'm here)

[personal profile] badgerms 2015-05-25 07:34 am (UTC)(link)
[Snaf pushes himself up and away from the wall he's been leaning against, shrugging again. Whatever, it's not another museum, right? And seeing some animals might be cool...]

You wanna find some chow on the way?
badgerms: (✵ that is being led)

[personal profile] badgerms 2015-05-25 08:09 am (UTC)(link)
[The pause doesn't go completely unnoticed. Snafu's been friends with Gene long enough at this point - and has been hyperaware of him the whole time - that he's pretty sure he knows when the other marine's holding back rather than just being quiet.

(They also still haven't really spoken about that argument. Who knows if they ever will?)

Anyway, he answers more plainly and with less fuss than he might usually.]


Yeah, kinda. Cajun food's got French roots. [A grin.] We got more spice, though.
badgerms: (try to erase all your thin little crimes)

[personal profile] badgerms 2015-05-25 08:30 am (UTC)(link)
Yeah? Gonna get you tryin' some new things then, like this whole future thing weren't strange enough.

[He's keeping his eyes on places they could eat as they work their way in the direction of the zoo. A sit-down meal isn't really what he's after right now, so he's looking more for bakeries or food trucks, something they can carry.]

What kinda food you usually eat back in Mobile, Alabama, anyway?

[There's an little twist in the way he says the name of Gene's hometown, but it's not mean, just odd. He's in pretty good spirits, honestly. He may have been obnoxious and rude on this trip so far, but none of it's been directed at Gene.]
tucky: (no names were changed)

[personal profile] tucky 2015-05-25 01:52 pm (UTC)(link)
A tablet's like a computer. Why wouldn't that be any good?

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