Heritage Posted July 6, 2008 Share Posted July 6, 2008 Ah, sweet illegally-purchased alcohol, how I love thee! Lynn sits on the roof of the Freedom Aquarium and has another swig of beer, which she's actually not that crazy about, but it seems like the thing to drink on the Fourth. Before her is spread the whole of Freedom Harbor, now dotted with boats of every shape and size as the last rays of sunlight continue to slowly drop below the horizon to her back. The breeze off the river is cool and drenched with a wide variety of smells, not all of them pleasant, and Lynn can clearly hear the orchestra playing at the bandshell in Riverside Park. The young vigilante takes a deep breath and holds it for a few seconds before slowly letting it out. To call it a fight would probably be a bit much, but it was definitely a disagreement, and she would have to make it up to him; Ren didn't understand why she didn't want to hang out for the Fourth, and her vague mention of previous plans clearly irritated him. God, I put that poor guy through the ringer sometimes. Soon her sensitive ears pick up the buzzing of large diaphanous wings, and Lynn lets out an irritated sigh; she reaches down into the cheap Styrofoam cooler, snags another beer, and holds it up without even looking. "You're late, Carmine." A stick-like chitinous arm takes the offered beer. "Sorry, Epstone," mumbles a wet crackling voice. The giant insect lands beside her, his head a sticky mass of feelers and mouthparts topped with a pair of glittering compound eyes that somehow still manage to look sheepish. "I hadda fix a generator up on seven, and then Mr. Pitt, well..." Lynn turns to look at him sharply. "Mr. Pitt what? You still doin' jobs for that psycho?" Carmine waves two sets of arms defensively. "No, no, nothing like that, just, y'know, a favor. He's like the landlord, sometimes you have to pay, y'know?" He pries off the cap with a pincer and somehow manages to take a swig. Lynn continues to shake her head. "I don't like you doin' jobs for him, that's all." The bug man snorts, and a viscous fluid bubbles out of an orifice. "Yeah, well maybe if you were around more he wouldn't be leanin' on the rest of us so much." He takes a deep breath, a disturbing papery rattle, then extends one of his arms to lightly touch Lynn's shoulder. "Hey, I'm sorry, let's not fight. I really appreciate you askin' me out here; looks like a beautiful night for the show, huh?" The young girl shrugs. "I guess." "How are things with Loverboy, anyway? You two done it yet?" "Carmine!" She softly punches him in the side of his thorax, not too hard because he's built like a piñata. The bug man laughs, takes a long pull of beer and shakes his grotesque bristly head. "I didn't think so. What are you waiting for, sweet thing? He's a guy, he thinks with one thing!" "I dunno; soon, not that it's any of your business." "Yeah, well, you can kiss my butt, sweetie." "You don't have a butt, Carmine. Just an abdomen." "Touché." They both sit in silence as they sip their beers, waiting for darkness as the band continues to work its way through every patriotic American tune known to man. Carmine finally breaks the silence. "You really gonna move out this month?" "That's what it looks like." "And you're sure this is what you want? Think of all your giving up!" Now it’s Lynn’s turn to snort. "'What I’m giving up?’ Like no showers, rats and neighbors who would kill me for a used air freshener if they had the chance? I don’t think so; those are things I’m glad to give up.†The giant insect wags a long clawed finger. “No, things like gettin’ to come and go as you please, no taxman breathing down your neck, livin’ off the grid. I’m talkin’ about freedom, real genuine freedom.†Lynn sighs and starts picking at the label of her beer with her thumbnail. “Look, I know I’m giving up a lot; I’ve given up a lot already, it’s just…some things are worth the sacrifice, y’know? Ren is worth the sacrifice.†Carmine can only shake his head sadly. “Well, I hope you know what your doin’.†Lynn smiles. “Me, too. To new beginnings.†The bug man clinks his bottle against hers. “To new beginnings.†Just then the band in the park starts into "Stars and Stripes Forever", echoed through radios and loudspeakers all over the city. Carmine wipes his mouthparts with a spindly leg and points out over the water. “Now shut up and watch the fireworks.†BOOM! Link to comment
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