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bri-goodwin-blog · 8 years ago

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Who: Bri & Boone What: Boone gives Bri a tour of Babylon, they talk. Where: Babylon, during the day.

'Keep an eye on her for me, figure her out - make sure they seem like they're going to fit in here. I'm trusting you with this.' Being told that by Archer was no light request, and Boone wasn't going to be taking it that way in the slightest. It was about time that he got asked to do something; he was tired of being looked at like he was just a moocher nowadays. His leg was healed entirely on the outside, but his pain was still someone psychosomatic, forcing him to limp behind the new girl as she crossed the courtyard outside. "Hey! Hey, Bri, right?" he tried catching her attention, rubbing at the knot in his thigh as he finally caught up right behind her.

It had been easy, just like Roscoe had told them it would be. 'Bleeding hearts', that's what he'd called them - laughing with a cigar held tightly between his teeth. And, like most things, the man was prooved to be right. Hearing her name, the blonde stopped moving, a hand saddling lin her pocket as she peered over her shoulder, doe eyed and offering an uncertain smile at the other. "Yeah? Sorry, I forgot your name - there's a lot of you and it's hard to really remember them all." Boone. She'd heard him called multiple times, especially by the overly friendly man with the eye patch.

"Oh, sorry! I'm Boone," he politely stuck out his hand for her to take, smile on his face. She seemed pretty nice so far, pretty honest. "That's alright, hopefully if you stick around long enough you'll get to know each of us. How is your brother doing? I heard Archer got his knee back in socket. Probably going to be sore for a little while, but he's lucky it wasn't worse. Not that Archer wouldn't have, um, been able to take care of him. He's a surgeon. Or was. Before. In the military. Navy seals or something like that." He really needed to stop rambling when he was nervous.

Taking his hand with a slight nervous hesitance - a rabbit taking food offered to it - Bri let her smile widen a little before she lowered his hand. "Boone. I'll try and commit it to memory." Tucking her hand away she nodded slowly, looking at the ground for a long moment. "He's doing well. I was terrified for a while there, but you guys...you saved oir lives. I couldn't have kept carrying him and I'm not much of a fighter myself." The guy was a talker, it seemed a fair few of them were - which was only going to make their job easier. "Wow, that's pretty lucky. We used to have a nurse in our old group, but we all got seperated shortly after it all started. Medicine and military though, and he seems really nice too. Hard to believe there are still good folks out there, anyone else would have slammed the door on us I swear."

"There's not enough good people left in the world," Boone agreed with her with a sad sigh and a short nod. Especially not some of the people that him and Abby had run into before they had met the rest of The Company. Boone wouldn't even know where they would be if they hadn't found them. "I'm glad that we were here for you guys." She seemed genuine, which was good. There wasn't any sort of flicker in her words or anything of that sort. Boone figured he was doing a great job at being undercover surveillance. "Would you like me to give you a tour of the place?" he offered.

"I'd like that, a lot." Her shoulders slackened to mimic a gentle relief, one hand gesturing ahead of herself. "You all seem so close here, I really want my brother and I to fit in - it seems so nice to just stop and breathe for a moment y'know? I spend so long worrying about me and him, he's all I got left but sometimes I feel like we just need a chance to stop and catch ourselves. I probably sound silly." Bri laughed lightly, nudging at the ground as she walked, eye flicking intentionally to the leg Boone seemed to favor. "Sorry, I didn't mean to stare."

"You don't sound silly at all. I was in the same situation with my sister and I. It was just me and her for a really long time. She's my baby sister, and she's all I really had left at the time, and when we found this group it took us a long time to acclimate and accept that we were in a safe place. I hope you guys don't have the same problem, but you already seem like you're getting to know us well enough." He continued walking, limping ever so slightly as they moved toward where the pantry was. At her statement, he shrugged and gave her a warm, reassuring smile. "It's alright. I got hurt awhile back, still sort of in the recovery process I guess you could say." He didn't need to go into how he was pretty much all healed and his pain was mostly in his head, so he figured his response was good enough.

"It's nice you two still have each other, I'd be so alone without Dax." Another doft smile and she followed, nodding at his words. "It takes longer these days, to heal. But its good you even had the chance to get better - you guys mist really all care about one another; a real community."

Boone chuckled sheepishly and nodded, scratching the back of his neck awkwardly. "I agree. I wouldn't have lived if not for Archer. I... um. I owe the man my life." It was true, there wasn't much that Boone wouldn't do for Archer. He could probably tell him to jump off of a building and he would have even without a good enough reason. But that was just because he trusted the man. He knew he wouldn't put any of them in danger without good reason. He would be the one to guide them to safety, whatever the situation may be. "We do care about each other though. We didn't, in the beginning. There was a lot of fighting. But we've all been through enough that we're kind of like a little family now. And you guys can be part of that family."

"Dax may never admit it, boyish pride and all that but...we owe him ours. We were sitting ducks out there." Like everything else, it was a lie. Roscoe had an eye on them, she trusted him and they prooved their worth to him time and time again. They were useful, and he wasn't a man to let his resources die. "I hope so, I'd like that. A family, a little bit of normality - hell, I might even get a chance to hsve a baby like that other girl here. The blonde one with the lovely face."

"I'm just glad we could help you guys, is all." Boone beamed at her. This was good. They were making great progress. She really did seem like a nice girl - someone genuinely interested in making sure they were happy - and he was excited to report back to Archer on his findings. "Oh, Ivy? Or Sadie. 'Cause Sadie's pregnant right now. Ivy's the one with the baby. But hey, I mean, if you want something - anything is possible. You shouldn't let the way the world is now discourage you from being happy, y'know?"

Women with maternal instincts were trust worthy - it was natures law. A woman with the desire to nuture and care was portrayed as a strong, loyal person with a gentle soul towards those she held dear. Nothing was further from the truth when it came to Bri; a girl who would sooner throw herself down a flight of stairs than carry a child in this world. She only cared for one other person than herself.

"Ivy, she looks so happy - like something out of the past. I'd like a chance to be that happy. What about you? Like...kids or love, or are you waiting to find the right one?" A light playful giggle caught her words. She assumed the one eyed man was involved with him somehow but she was seeking clarity.

"They're a happy little family, for sure. Her, Flip and Phillip. That little boy may have been born into a world without social security cards and vaccinations, but he was definitely born into the arms of people that love and want him. And that's what really matters, right?" He chuckled shyly at her question and shrugged. "I don't want kids, I kind of have some pseudo-kids on my own. Dan, um, the guy with the eyepatch--he's my partner. And Howie and Ash are his sons - not biologically, but he's taken care of them since the beginning of this whole mess and they call him dad."

"Of course! You don't nees the finicky things in this world if you've got love. That's up there with oxygen and food for me." Another giggle and a broad smile settled on her face. "That's so sweet. He's a handsome guy too, end of the world and you still managed to land a good looking guy - I might have to ask you for pointers."

Boone blushed and shook his head, scratching the back of his head in embarassment. "I don't know how I got so lucky, really. He's an amazing guy and amazing father." He stepped forward when they reached the pantry and held the door open for her. "This is the pantry. It's where all of our food and supplies stay. Everything is watched or locked up 24/7. Not so much because we're afraid of each other, but you never know about other people."

Inspecting the pantry, she nodded slowly - mentally noting what she could as she feigned awe. "Wow, you guys really are prepared. I totally get locking it, I used to sleep with my rations when this all started just in case people ate them."

"Yeah," he sighed with a nod of understanding. "I know how that can be. I had that happen once back when it was me, Abby and mom. Someone came and stole all of our food right from underneath us. We had to trade some of our other supplies to get it back, it was a mess. Can't seem to trust anyone these days." Except her, right? He could trust her. She seemed like a nice enough girl, and Dax seemed like a cool enough guy. They should be perfect additions to their little family. Especially with how much she was sharing with him already.

"Sometimes i like to hope I can trust people again. I always feel like I'm too trusting or positive but Dax and I...we just wanna see the good in people like we see in each other. I see it in you, and I saw it in Archer when he let us in." Pushing a lock of gold behind her ear, the blonde sighed softly. "I just hope you guys can see it in us too."

"Trust me, I can see it already," he said with a beaming smile as he stepped out of the pantry and back into the courtyard, moving toward their next destination. "Archer is pretty good at reading people. He wouldn't have let you guys in if he didn't feel safe with you, so all of us are naturally going to feel good about you guys. I just hope you learn to like us just as much."

"I think we will, I already feel myself relaxing in this place. It's weird but it feels right." She'd used that line before, she used it every time. Following him, the blonde stowed her hands away again and peered around them. "How old are your partner's kids? Kids are rare these days, but then again so are babies and you guys almost have two here. "

"Good, I'm glad," he stated with a smile. "Ash is 16, and Howie is 21. They were a lot younger when this whole thing started, though. Maverick, our resident farmer, has two kids, though. His daughter is 2 or 3 and his son is 11 or 12." She was easy to talk to, which is one of the reasons he was confident she was going to fit well with the group.

"Aww that's so sweet. All these little families..." Bri beamed at his words, her expression not once faltering. "You guys...you give me hope, really."

Boone beamed right back at her with his own hopeful smile. He stopped where he was walking and tapped her on the back softly in a friendly greeting. "Well, hopefully you can become part of that family. Now, ready for the rest of the tour?"

#001.

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