Karma is a fair bitch

It was too early for comfort. The sun had just begun to rise, but Cian had not been able to sleep any longer. He was too anxious to learn if there had been any updates about the lockdown. Spoiler: There were none. Everything was still standing still.

Cian was standing outside of the station, staring at it with a mix of frustration and hopelessness. Part of him wished he could magically make a train fly him out of the city, another part wished that he had enough power to shake the whole building down. He would not be able to stay at his current motel for much longer and with no end in sight for this lockdown, he had no idea what to do. With no contacts in this state, he would not be able to just go pick up some odd jobs here and there. He had no idea where to start. Where was more safe and where was less safe. And what to do when the family started wondering why he took so long...

He looked down at the phone in his hand. "Hi, mom. It's me. The transport took a slight detour.", he mumbled for himself. With a deep sigh, Cian started pacing back and forth on the pavement. "Hi, I sort of did not go where I said I would go." More pacing, and he was slowly making his way from the building to some trees nearby. He stopped by one and leaned his back against the trunk with another heavy sigh. "Hi, mom. Sorry, I fucked up. Again."

Slowly he slid down to sit on the ground. He sniffled quietly once and rubbed his free hand over his face. With the other, he dialed the number home, but then got stuck staring at the display for a long time. Then, with a groan he flipped the phone close and hung his head low. His elbows came to rest on his knees, his hands on the back of his head while holding the phone in a tight grip. "I did fuck up again... What is next? The package being a bomb or something? That would be absofuckinglutely wonderful.", he muttered and tapped his closed fist against the back of his head. He should never have taken the job. He should have stayed home. That package could have been all from a stack of love letters, to something highly illegal. The latter would not be worth the money he had been offered on returning home when the job was done. That was also an issue. He would not see those money until he did come home and met with the client. Right now, he was stranded with more or less a handful of pocket money left.

Sunjata

i bank on the funeral,

He would usually pass through the train stations to get back to POINT plate to go home, but he’s recently found a small loophole that allows him time away from his restriction to the plate on the days that he’s off work. Typically, Sunjata would ride the tram up from the Drench, spend twenty minutes changing out of his uniform into more civilian clothes, before returning to the trains, picking the one that headed south, effectively missing the interaction in the morning with his father.

And nobody else would care if he was late. So he gets this time to simply wander or mull around different places before eventually dragging himself to the usual train to go home, a silent enforcer so at odds from the typical ones that it’s almost unassuming.

It’s one of these times where he’s debating getting some food after his shift, torn between heading back to the POINT Plate with nothing else of interest before he notices a man seemingly curled up by one of the train signs that’s blotted out with UNKNOWN’s sprawling up the time blocks. His gaze drifts from sign to man then back to the sign as he tries to figure it out, eventually realizing that maybe the poor guy’s stuck here and simply waiting for lockdown to lift so he can go home.

So he approaches, as quietly as he can as to not startle him (unsure how much the man’s paying attention). “Hey, uh, excuse me, are you waiting for the trains that go outside of Ok’Kotoll?” It’s an easy ice breaker that hopefully won’t come off too terribly — Sunjata realizing more recently how his certain tone could be misconstrued, the accent Aristocratic in the nature of the very same man that had announced the lockdown, though the face is far younger and suntanned, freckles on display, dressed in a comfortable pair of jeans and a button up underneath a long jacket, the young man’s hair cut short on the sides, longer on the top, the symbol of a gavel shaved into the side of his head.

And he waits for the potential answer so he can try to help or the potential fuck off. Either one he’s used to receiving.

'cause i learned all my lessons that way

Cian closed his eyes and tried to clear his mind. His fingers started to tap against the phone and he took a very slow, deep breath. Sooner or later he would have to make that call. His family would start to wonder eventually. He had already made the usual text with "Things are going fine. Job's alright.", but the work he had told them he would be doing in the home state probably would not take a season. His little lie about where he was going would shatter soon and it probably would be better if he told the truth himself.

The sudden nearby voice made him freeze and hold his breath for a few seconds. Cian was usually decent at being aware of his surroundings, but right now his mind was just too distracted. How long had this person been standing there? Had he heard the mumbling? Good job there, Cian. Muttering about potential bombs instead of keeping your thoughts inside your head. You know, where no one else can hear!

Cian cleared his throat and slowly moved his hands away to be able to lift his head. He looked up at the young man standing there. "Yeah, but by the looks of it, it seems like I will be waiting a while. Thought it was just going to be a brief thing, you know? But it is fine. Got all time in the world." He tried to keep his voice calm, but his mildly stressed expression probably gave him away. He slipped his phone into a pocket while standing up, dusting off his jeans and tugged down the long sleeves of his black sweatshirt. "You don't happen to know when one might be able to leave?"

Sunjata

i bank on the funeral,

In fairness, Sunjata hasn’t been standing there long. If anything he simply just noticed and moved immediately into the conversation, the question aired. Luckily for him, he hasn’t startled the other man, and even gets a good response when truthfully he was half expecting the other ways this conversation could go.

There’s a small hum of agreement that leaves him as he nods. “Yeah, we all thought so too.” He admits, a small shake of his head as he looks away, giving the man an option to stand and straighten out before he focuses back on him and the next question.

It makes him wince slightly, shoulders rolling in a small shrug. “I don’t know. I’m sorry. They’re still waiting to get more information on the attack before it opens up again.” He shoves his hands into his pocket, a soft frown crossing his face as he regards the stranger, thankful he hasn’t been recognized thus far. “Did you just drop in or do you have a place to stay right now?” He asks, knowing the difficulties in the housing situation at present.

'cause i learned all my lessons that way

The hope for any possibility to get out soon dropped a notch with each word spoke by the other man. Cian held back another sigh and crossed his arms over his chest. His fingers started fidgeting restlessly; left thumbnail clicking against one of the other nails rapidly while his thoughts spun around. His gaze briefly went up towards the other man's hairstyle, then snapped to the hands moving into pockets. Just naturally following movements, or expecting something? The mentioning of an attack brought a hint of a frown to his face. When the follow-up question came, he looked back to the man's face.

"I was just supposed to travel through, but then got stuck. Renting a room at the moment, but time is running out. Or well... Money is, to be honest." One hand moved to stroke his chin and that sigh finally slipped out. "Not sure what then if all this is still down."

He chewed his lip thoughtfully for a couple of seconds. His eyes wandered around the area before settling on the one in front of him again. "What was that attack you mentioned? I feel quite out of the loop here." He was probably worrying for nothing, but he could not help but slowly growing more and more paranoid over that mystery package he had delivered. Surely it was all a coincidence. He delivers something, then soon after a lockdown happened and there is talk about an attack. 'No. Nope. All is fine. You are just paranoid.' Cian tucked his hands in under his arms to stop them from fidgeting, while his thoughts continued trying to create a little whirlwind inside his head. Hopefully his anxious manner would just be seen as stress over being stuck. It would be a reasonable reaction to the situation, after all.

Sunjata

i bank on the funeral,

The other man fidgets, which isn’t something Sunjata reads as any type of red flag. It’s something he does himself more often than not, and given the circumstances he can’t blame Cian for being stressed out about getting stuck here as soon as the answer to his question is given.

It sparks a frown on his face, a slight wince of understanding (even if he doesn’t, he can be empathetic). “Yeah… It’s really put a lot of stress on the city.” He agrees sadly. It’s put a lot of stress on the people, too, and as far as he knows his father hasn’t thought far enough about them to care so long as he can find the culprit to the bombing.

His attention drifts from the stranger to the emptying train station, people filtering into the trains that loop around the Plates and disappearing from sight with little amount of people to replace them to get here of all places. “They're working on building a sixth plate. It’s foundations were recently bombed and the Plates are blaming the Drench, the Drench thinks it was an inside job from the Plates to make the lockdown happen and higher Enforcer patrols.” He shrugs with a soft sigh, looking back to Cian with a soft smile. “It’s all a mess to be honest. I hope it gets resolved soon so you can head back home.” And he means it — even if the other Aristocrats Cian talks to might not have the same intentions. Nobody should have to be stuck here.

“Are you staying on POD Plate in the meantime?” He asks, wondering if the man’s renting a room in one of the varying hotels or motels on the plate, and if so perhaps they could take the train back together if the stranger wanted company.

'cause i learned all my lessons that way

Some colour might have drained from his face at the word "bombing". Cian shifted his weight from one foot to the other, took a short breath and cleared his throat before speaking again. "B-bombing? Wow... That sounds very bad... And unsafe. Sure can understand the tension and all." He felt the anxiety rising. 'You had nothing to do with this. Stop being fucking paranoid. It is just a coincidence.' Cian felt like laughing, or crying. Both. What he really needed, though, was to just calm down. Take a deep breath and keep his cool. He usually did stay collected, but now it was just one thing after the other and the uncertainty about it all just made it worse. He really did not want to accidentally have anything to do with what had happened.

The man's question about where he was staying snapped him out of the thought-whirlwind. "POD... POD... Right! Yes, yes I am. Yeah, renting a room at one of the motels over there. Guess most I can do is to go back there and wait. Try again another day, eh?" He managed a faint smile in return and looked towards the station building. It was probably a good idea to just go back to the motel, scream into a pillow and take a deep breath or ten. Once his head had stopped spinning, he could start trying to untangle his situation.

"Don't suppose you could point me at the right tram to that plate? Right now I can barely remember which one I took to get here. It's been a stressful time, lately" A nervous chuckle escaped his lips, then a heavy exhale and let his arms fall to his sides. 'Relax. Need to relax. Making your head explode won't change anything.'

Sunjata

i bank on the funeral,

A small grimace blooms on the young Bratena’s face as the stranger stutters, but he doesn’t know how to exactly respond. “Yeah, tense is one word for it.” He murmurs, a small sigh leaving him. He’s gone from up on the Plates wholly to being thrown into the Drench in uniform — one of the ones that gets the immediate heat for the lockdown while also having to be the one to enforce it.

But the admission that he’s staying on POD plate brings Sunjata’s attention back toward the stranger from his own self pitying. “Might be best.” As unfortunate as it is. “Maybe you can take advantage of it, though? See the city?” He tries to be optimistic of his own city despite seeing the flaws everywhere.

As for showing him to the tram? Absolutely. A soft smile crosses his face as he nods. “Yeah I can help. I’m on my way to POINT anyway and it’s on the way.” A hand extends to point toward the edge of the train station where the south end train would be arriving sometime soon. “I’m Sunjata Bratena, by the way.” Usually he wouldn’t give his last name, but he thinks it might make more sense to the stranger as to why he’s heading to POINT.

But it also has the drawback of announcing and outting himself out as the Bratena heir. Though to be fair, at this moment he isn’t trying to hide who he is.

He starts walking, though, sure that the other man would follow him until they reached the stop for the south end trains.

'cause i learned all my lessons that way

Cian's thoughts slowly started to settle while he listened and nodded along. Take advantage of the situation was a good plan. He had been too busy freaking out, trying to come up with explanations to tell his family and being stuck in a loop of "Maybe it is open again tomorrow. Just one more day." to really do much. However, since not even the locals seems to know when the lockdown would be over with, it was time to start making something of the situation.

He brightened up a bit when his request for help was answered, but then almost paused when the man presented himself. It was probably not noticeable much; just waiting a second before following. A small smirk appeared on his face, and he glanced sideways at Sunjata. "Seems like I am getting a fancy escort back to my Plate then, huh." he said in a more joking tone. Cian had some recollection of the big houses. He recognized the surname, at least... "Wait... Isn't that one of the names on the announcement for this whole lockdown thing?" He raised an eyebrow at Sunjata. His expression did not show if he was in anyway upset with the man next to him. Mildly curious, perhaps, with a hint of realization.

Of all the people he could meet, it had to be one from one of those houses. His eyed Sunjata's hair for half a second again. Bad luck? Coincidence? Something was going on? For the sake of keeping his cool, Cian told himself that it was all just a coincidence and that he was not in trouble. While coming up to the stop, he quietly prayed to whatever Saint that wanted to be in control of trams would make it so theirs would go past POD before POINT. Just to be on the safe side. 'Stop being paranoid, self. This is not like you. It is the stress talking.'

Sunjata

i bank on the funeral,

He is getting a fancy escort back to POD, all things considered. And the small smirk that grows on the stranger’s face is met with a soft laugh from the young enforcer, a nod, lips parting to add something else when the question hits him over the lockdown and the smile turns to something closer to a slight grimace as he tilts his head this way and that. “Yes and no. Bratena is, but it was my father that announced it.” He had nothing to do with it.

He'd simply just gotten shoved into the Drench with the rest of them on more intense enforcer patrols. “I personally don’t think the lockdown is worth all this.” He shrugs, gesturing to the closed trains that lead outside of Ok’Kotoll. He doesn’t know if it helps the stranger to know that just because he shared a name with the man who called it doesn’t mean that Sunjata himself believes in it.

It would be far less stressful on the city to just allow people to get home, after all.

They wait for the train, however, and Cian is in luck given that the train certainly will stop at POD before POINT. And now it doesn’t take too long before the trains pulling up to them, announcing that it’s to head south, with a few stops along the way for the POE district, POD North, POD South, and finally Point. Maps decorate the inside of the train car as well, showing where each stop is on the plates to help prevent people from getting lost, and Sunjata finds a spot with two seats, gesturing for the man to sit first. “You said you were staying in a motel so probably POD South is what you want?” He suggests, gaze drifting from the car that starts to fill with a few stragglers back toward Cian.

'cause i learned all my lessons that way