Day 008: A Change is Gonna Come
Summary: Grey is summoned up to the Delinquents' SkyBox in the wake of the chaos down below.
Date: 13 May 2016
Related: Follows Love, references One Song Mixtape, and precedes A Conspiracy is Formed.
Grey Archer 


Secondary Passenger Hold, The Dropship
The top level of the dropship was once the secondary passenger cabin, hosting rows of seats, may against the dark gray walls. Emptied now of its seats, and stripped to bare metal, this level is much smaller and closer than the ones below. It has been refitted into The Box — the delinquent camp's makeshift lockup. The lighting here is dim, casting deep shadows in the far corners of the room. Some of the harness straps have been roughly knotted together to create shackles so that prisoners can be bound and fettered to the walls.
8 Days After Landing

Grey comes up the hatch into the makeshift prison, frustration, weariness, sorrow, anger, and a whole lost of other emotions settled over his features. He nods to Jasin and Katie, "Go on down and catch up on the news, Jasin, then come relieve Katie so she can?" The little lift at the end makes it a question, not an order. Maybe he's just not in the mood for giving orders right now. He glances over the Big Man first, and then turns his attention to the other side of the parachute curtain, approaching slowly, "What do you need?" The frustration and anger have drained out of him, just leaving him tired, and looking a good deal older than his eighteen years.

The Archer had been sleeping, perhaps, with her back pressed up against the wall and her head bowed. When the hatch opens and Grey emerges, her head lifts slightly to watch him with a thoughtful stare. Then she breathes out a slow breath, considering him with those moss green eyes. When she spots the blood, her brows arch high over her eyes in silent question, but it isn't what she asks after. "To know what will happen now," she says quietly, considering the young man.

Grey looks down to his left forearm at her glance, his right hand coming across his body to press against it, the pressure drawing a hiss from between his teeth. He's also wearing the leather shirt he took off a dead Grounder, having forgotten in the hubbub to change back into his previous attire. "You said to have a summit, both sides need something to offer. We've got that now. Our people are coming down, and they have technology, knowledge. We can trade that for peace, for your knowledge of living down here."

The Archer looks up slowly as he comes nearer, having to crane her neck a bit to look at the looming skaikru. At his news, her brows arch high over her mossy gaze, opening her expression. Her eyes flicker slightly to the shirt, and then back up at Grey, and her jaw sets slightly. "Your people are coming down," she repeats, the words said uncertainly in that precise accent.

Grey nods his head, pointing up, "We're back in contact with the Ark, with the people who sent us down here." He pauses then, looking down at his shirt, and grimaces, "Shit. Sorry. I've been trying not to…" Shaking his head, he lets the words trail off, "My shirt's trashed." She's seen how filthy, holey, and bloody it is, "I just…" He shakes his head, suddenly stepping back and pulling the club bandoleer over his head. It's set aside, out of reach of the Grounder even at the furthest extension of her bonds, then his knife is set beside it, and the shirt follows. It's only when he straightens up again, turning back to her, does he realize that he just stripped to the waist, and his right hand rises to his mouth so that he can nibble on a nail. "Yes. My people are coming down. They know it's livable down here now."

<FS3> Andromeda rolls 6: Good Success.
<FS3> Andromeda rolls 3: Success.

The Archer watches him with avid curiosity as his bandoleer and weapons are set aside, and then his shirt is pulled off. Grey is placed under the weight of her stare now, and she is once again sizing him up from head to toe. It is only when her eyes lift to settle on his own does her tired gaze reveal a sudden lack of hateful aggression. It probably is a compliment to Grey that even the Grounder finds his physical form appealing. Then she offers a small nod, returning after this long and maybe uncomfortable break in conversation to the topic at hand. "I cannot offer you any further advice, Greh kom Skaikru… I do not know what lies ahead for your people, or mine… but I warn you that these are our lands first and foremost… you people best not be coming in hopes to invade."

Grey has a sudden mad instinct to wrap an arm across his chest, but in the end, he brazens out his ill-thought-out plan, straightening his shoulders and spreading his hands slightly at his sides as if inviting her to stare. "It's just Grey. And we didn't mean to come down in your lands. We didn't know that they were anyone's lands." As he speaks, he moves back over to crouch in front of the Archer, his forearms resting on his thighs, "We're not looking to invade, or to fight. We just want to survive."

The Archer looks suspicious as the young man comes to squat before her. Her jaw flexes and relaxes several times before she gives a small, almost curt nod. "Alright… Grey." She stresses the pronounciation, focusing on how he says his name rather than the hard inflection of her language. Then she leans back again, her hands flexing and loosening as she continues to keep her limbs awake. Her jaw sets a bit. "And how much longer do you intend to hold us?" That question is almost sighed.

Grey blinks as she gets the pronunciation right, his eyebrows lifting as he grunts in mild surprise. The question draws a frown of thought, "I don't know. Before, if you went back home, all you'd have to report is weakness. Now there's hope. I don't see a reason to hold you any longer, but I'm not the only one who has to be in that decision." He glances back over his shoulder to Katie, frowning in thought, and then his dark eyes turn back to the Archer, "I'll talk to the people who need input as soon as I can. Hopefully just tonight."

There is a hint of suspicion in her eyes at his words, almost doubting their truths. But then the Archer nods slowly, and starts to lean back into the hull once more. She is thoughtful for a long moment, the silence around her lingering. Then, she lifts her eyes to him once more, asking curiously, "Why did you bring my music stick to me? Why did you let me listen to it?" She shakes her head, brow furrowed. "It gained you nothing…"

Grey rolls his eyes slightly at the suspicious look, but he doesn't comment on it. When she raises her gaze, his eyes are still on her. The question draws a little shrug, and a shift in his crouch, "The first time? Reward for answering questions. The second time? You wanted it." His eyes drop down and away, and he clamps his jaws tight to keep the words from continuing to pour from his mouth.

That catches Gideon off-guard. She blinks at Grey, and then allows the silence to pass between them uncomfortably for a moment. "I don't understand," she finally says, and the statement is also shown in the windows of her dark eyes. She waits for him to explain.

Grey gestures around the room, to the restraints, the guard, the locked hatch, "These aren't because we want to hurt you." The weary, bloodied youth looks much older than his eighteen years for a minute, "I'm trying to balance treating you two as best as we can with the safety of my people." Yes, he's possessive, even if half of them seem to hate him most of the time and one just tried to bury a knife in his gut. He lifts up his neck to show the bruise she gave him, "I'm scared of what you'd do to the people who can't fight." Dropping his head again, he meets her gaze, "But that doesn't mean we can't treat you as well as we can."

"I still do not understand," Gideon says, pressing him a bit. "None of this explains the music stick." Then she shakes her head, giving up and thus giving him an out from further pressing. Her expression remains somber and distant as she regards him and his bruises.

Grey has been trying not to say it. But he looks down at his hands, grumbling, "It made you smile." And then he clears his throat, shifting in his crouch again and half-turning back toward the doorway, "I should… you know…" Do anything but sit here right now after saying that.

The Grounder is stunned into silence at his confession. Not at all what she expected, and it shows quite evidently on her face. If he thought that would clear things up, he is sorely mistaken with how confused she looks. Her gaze drops again to the bruises on his neck, and then back up at him.

Grey flails around inside his head for the right words, and settles quite unhappily on, "I'm gonna get this looked at. And talk to the people I gotta talk to." He raises his voice so that it can be easily heard by Katie and the Big Man, "Whaddya think, Katie? You know Morgan and his crew are fine with them being let go as messengers. If Fiona agrees, who else you figure I should ask?"

Katie has been precariously watching Grey with the femme Grounder, and looks abruptly embarrassed when Grey catches her staring — as if she was eavesdropping on something. Then she shrugs, totally playing it cool. "Maybe some of the other ex-Cadets?" She offers.

Grey replays the events of the last couple of hours in his head, grimacing, and then sighs and nods, "Faolan. I get the okay of Faolan and Fiona, you and Jasin help us get them out of camp without any fuss? People are damned insane tonight, and I don't want arguments in the middle of the damned camp."

Katie sticks out her tongue against the corner of her mouth in a thoughtful gesture, and then she nods. "Yeah… Faolan and Fiona." Beat pause. "You gonna send anyone with them?"

Grey shrugs a little helplessly, then looks back to the Archer, "What do you think? Should some of our people go with you? As emissaries? Probably better they meet with just a few of us than the whole crazy-ass camp." And then he flinches just a little and sighs, "But if we're gonna work together, it might have to go that way."

The Archer has been carefully considering Grey with a half-turn of her head. When he turns back to her, she straightens up a bit in her seat. "Approaching with emissaries is far better than you approaching alone," she offers helpfully, though she is still considering Grey seriously with her green gaze.

The Archer has been carefully considering Grey with a half-turn of her head. When he turns back to her, she straightens up a bit in her seat. "Sending emissaries with us will ensure that they can freely approach our village without prompting a less pleasant reaction," she offers helpfully, though she is still considering Grey seriously with her green gaze.

Grey nods slowly, "Okay… okay… shit." So much to worry about all at once. If Grey looked older than his age before, he's definitely showing it now, a teenager with the weight of the world on his shoulders. Pushing himself up to his feet, he moves back over to his pile of possessions, pulling the shirt back on, then slinging his baton and tucking the knife at the back of his belt again, "I'll be back as soon as I can." And then he peeks around the parachute cloth, "Even for you, pretty-boy." That's for the Big Man, with just a touch of his too-wide, slightly-needling smile. He gives Katie a nod, "As soon as I see Jasin, I'll send him back up, but they shouldn't be any trouble now." He removes the blockage from the hatch, pulling it open, and halfway down, he looks to the Archer, the Big Man, and back, then nods sharply.

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