d-day + 187 through 193 ✯ spam

[withtheoldbreed]

[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.]

Comments

[tucky]

[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?

[withtheoldbreed]

[Gene recognizes her voice and turns around, grinning a little sheepishly.]

No. [Not really, anyway. He has a vague idea of where he is.] It's just a lot different than the pictures I've seen of Paris.

[tucky]

Ain't you from the past? This is modern day; my modern day.

[withtheoldbreed]

Guess seventy years really does make a difference.

[tucky]

Oh, yeah. Y'all didn't even have computers back then.

Wanna go in and look? Or you wanna see my iPad?

[withtheoldbreed]

Is that different from an iPhone?

[Yes, he's curious!!]

[tucky]

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...

[withtheoldbreed]

[It's not as foreign a concept as it could have been - he's aware of the iPhone, and the comms aren't exactly entirely dissimilar, in some ways - but it's still weird. Portable radios are heavy and awkward in his time, and there's no such thing as a portable phone.]

And almost everyone has one?

[tucky]

No way. I never had one before this month. They're expensive.

[badgerms]

[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.]

[withtheoldbreed]

[The thing is - the probably stupid thing - is that Sledge trusts Snafu with his life and everything else, so his willingness to stick around has little to do with his friend's ability to speak the language and more to do with the fact that it's just... natural. So it's true: he doesn't really mind the other marine being a pain.

And, knowing his friend is probably bored out of his mind waiting for him to be done in the Grande Galerie, he tries not to take too much longer after Snaf decides he's had enough and needs to get some air. By the time he locates him - and it doesn't take long - he witnesses the tail end of one of those catcalls and the look it receives, which means he's grinning at him with something like exasperation when he catches up with him.]

Anyone try'n slap you while I was gone?

[withtheoldbreed]

Feel like I keep seein' people with them. Or other phones.

And stuff from Starbucks.

[It's just weird.]

[tucky]

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]

[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.]

[withtheoldbreed]

I'll bet. [This isn't a side of Snaf he's really had opportunity to see before - there aren't any women in their corner of the Pacific - but considering how much he enjoys harassing new recruits and... everyone else, honestly, it hasn't been a surprising development.

Gene reaches into his pants pocket for his own pack of cigarettes and a lighter.]

Where d'you wanna go now?

[withtheoldbreed]

What would I use it for? Don't know if it'll be any good on the ship.

[badgerms]

[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.]

[withtheoldbreed]

[It's going to be a long trip to Paris at this rate. He'll make it up to you somehow??]

Eggsy said there's a zoo a couple miles west of here. We could go look at animals that didn't die a hundred years ago.

[But the suggestion's offered open endedly, because if Snafu has other ideas or suggestions, Gene's open to them. He did force you to step foot into a museum, after all.]

[badgerms]

[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?

[withtheoldbreed]

Sure. [He could eat. And they're in Paris, might as well take advantage of that while they can.

Gene starts heading in the general direction of the zoo, hesitating a little before asking the question and hopefully glossing over that pause by taking another drag on his cigarette. He's just never really sure how much he's allowed to ask, even if he's pretty sure his friend isn't possessed by some creepy spirit that's making him extra prone to being weird and mean.]

You get a lotta French food in Louisiana?

[badgerms]

[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.

[withtheoldbreed]

[It surprises him a little that he got an answer, and an honest one at that without any of the fussing or teasing or avoidance tactics Snaf usually resorts to when asked that kind of thing. Gene's going to cautiously take that as a good sign.]

Then you might hafta help me figure out what to get. We didn't have a ton of it at home. [Or much at all, really, it's not like they'd had a French cook.]

[badgerms]

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.]

[withtheoldbreed]

[Gene shrugs, paying more attention to the other people and the general sights of the city than to where they're getting food. It was Snafu's idea, he can pick and Gene won't mind whatever it is.]

Chicken, grits, shrimp, peach pie... Normal stuff. Nothin' too exciting. [And although Snaf could probably guess, he doesn't choose to reveal that they do actually have a cook.]

My buddy Sid and I used to get Cokes and Moon Pies from this store in town before we'd go run around some of the Civil War sites we've got. [Except, wait. He catches himself, and glances quickly over at his friend, grinning a little as he remembers.] But I told you that already.

[The only reason he remembers is because Snaf had gotten him some Moon Pies for Christmas, and Gene had shared a couple with him in the following weeks.]

[tucky]

A tablet's like a computer. Why wouldn't that be any good?