Day One, Greenie.

[wegotarunner]

[Open Spam]

[Thomas arrives on the deck of the ship with a look of weariness not only on his features, but one that's settled into his shoulders. Chuck's carving is still clutched tightly in his hand. There's still blood on his clothes. On his hands. His face is streaked with dirt and sweat and blood from a cut above his eye and another on his cheek.

So this is the Barge.

He looks up at the sky with wide eyes, momentarily distracted by the sight and forgetting the events of the last few hours. But only momentarily. He blinks himself out of his dazed stupor and rubs a hand over his face. It takes him a moment to get his bearings. The first thing he needs to do is find his room, and take a long, hot shower. Change his clothes. Get something to eat. It's been hours since he last ate anything and his stomach isn't happy about it.

And then he's going to explore the Barge, find out where everything is. Figure out what to do from there. He's sure there's a lot to learn about this place, about the people he's now sharing space with. He's not completely thrilled about having to meet a whole slew of new people. People who won't know him, who will probably treat him like an outsider. Like he's not to be trusted.

Truthfully, he's still not sure should be. He remembers Newt's words. That who he used to be doesn't matter, it's who he is now that counts. And he can't save them if he focuses on things he can't do anything about. He has to stay focused.

For Newt. For Minho. For Teresa. For Alby. Ben. Even for Gally.

But most of all, for Chuck.]

[Video]

[Thomas appears on screen looking better than he had only an hour ago for those who ran into him on the way from the deck to his room. He's cleaned up, all the blood and sweat and dirt gone from his skin. The cut above his eye and the one on his cheek are still there but they look a little less angry now. He also looks a little hesitant, like he's not sure about this.]

Someone said I should introduce myself.

I'm Thomas.

Comments

[leavetreadmarks]

Right.

[That takes care of the easy one - the other one, though. She pulls her fingers through her hair idly, frowning while she tries to figure out how best to put something she still doesn't believe in and still doesn't have much experience with herself.]

Floods are... they make people act crazy, from what I've seen. I'm told sometimes they change people into other things, into animals or kids, but I don't.... I haven't seen that. I can't say for sure.

[wegotarunner]

[He grows still at that. It almost sounds like what happens when people get stung by a griever, except they don't change into an animal or a kid. They just change, and tend to act crazy. He swallows hard.]

Well that's...different.

[Thomas: understater of the century.]

[leavetreadmarks]

Uh, yeah. That's one word for it.

People say this last one was a flood, and it was... we dreamed other peoples' deaths. And it was fucking terrible.

So I guess there's a little bit of something for everybody, except none of it should be for anybody.

[wegotarunner]

...yeah that definitely sounds terrible. Does anyone know why that happens? Stuff like that?

[leavetreadmarks]

Not that I know of. Most everyone just seems to think that's the way it is so that's the way it is.

[This vexes Letty, and she doesn't bother hiding it.]

[wegotarunner]

[He's pretty familiar with that mode of thinking. Nearly everyone had it back in the Glade.]

Sounds kind of defeatist.

[leavetreadmarks]

It's not that, I don't think. Not for everyone anyway.

I think it's more that people are saving their energy for other things. It's too big and there's not enough information, you know? So you focus on what you do know, or what you need, and that ain't the answers to the universe.

[wegotarunner]

[And that definitely sounds like most of the guys from the Glade. Sure, there were Runners always trying to find a way out of the Maze, but other than that people didn't seem to ask a lot of questions. Maybe they just accepted things at face value a lot easier than he does.]

But not you?

[leavetreadmarks]

[It's not that Letty isn't asking questions. It's that she seems to be among the minority of singularly ill equipped to understand... most of this.]

I wouldn't say that. I'm not exactly after the secret of life myself, here.

Maybe I'm just new enough that the shine hasn't worn off asking "what the fuck is going on" yet.

[wegotarunner]

Yeah, I guess that makes sense. [He chews his lower lip and looks at her curiously.] I don't think it'll wear off for me anytime soon.

[leavetreadmarks]

No?

You just got here. Maybe this really is all the kind of strange you've seen before.

[But she's kind of smirking behind the words now.]

[wegotarunner]

[Well. He has seen some weird stuff. But he doubts his penchant for asking what the hell is going on will fade in the near future.]

Well, is there a giant maze with mechanical monsters here?

[leavetreadmarks]

Uh.

No. Not that I've seen. I might've missed it tucked away in a corner, though.

[wegotarunner]

[It had mostly been a joke. He hadn't really thought the Glade and the Maze were here. And he was hoping there weren't any Grievers. But his sense of humor is a bit dry, and tends to fall kind of flat.]

Then it's not the kind of strange I'm familiar with.

[leavetreadmarks]

[The fault, in this case, lies less with his sense of humor and more with the fact that on the Barge, Letty does not know what the full extent of the strange should or could be.

She makes a face.] I hope you left that shit at home, then. There's enough bullshit around here without that.

[wegotarunner]

Yeah. Yeah, I hope so too.

[leavetreadmarks]

Alright - I'll get outta your face. Easiest way to get your bearings is to look around, if you want my advice.

Even if you don't, there it is.

[wegotarunner]

[He smiles a little, nodding.]

Thanks, Letty.

[leavetreadmarks]

You're welcome. Good luck.