#interaction ― lindsay & javier ( 01 )

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❝ ah dinnae ken why we didnae hear about 'em sooner. ❞ surely not everybody who'd been around to see the last one, even two or three broods emerge had forgotten or expired. why, then, was there no mention on any of the radio segments? no warnings in the daily burn? it was almost as if they'd wanted to blindside the population with crisis, willful ignorance to the detriment of devil's elbow at large. but why? ❝ ach, if i can be honest wit' ye, javi, i'm about near done tryin' tae make sense o' this feckin' place. every time i do, some shite like this happens tae throw me fer another loop. there's nae rhyme or reason tae it. ❞

his gaze is constantly moving as he speaks, methodically scanning the crowd before running down the line of soldiers posted along the gate wall. rinse and repeat. his lips twitch into something resembling a smirk at javier's observation, but there's no real amusement behind it. he's right, of course. it doesn't make a lick of sense, not to anyone in their right mind. lindsay knows better than to hold such high expectations of the folks at afterglow.

❝ disnae it? ❞ lindsay asks, sparing javier a glance. ❝ ye dinnae make it tae the top o' somewhere as well an' truly fecked as that wi'out bein' well an' truly fecked yerself. and anyway, he's nae the head o' the whole place, jus' the medical department. tae my understanding, though, the whole lot of 'em think the sun shines out his arse all the same, just as charming as he is malevolent. ❞ he shakes his head. ❝ feck's sake, even santi used tae be friends with the guy. ❞ there's a snort then, as lindsay looks back at javier again. ❝ ah dinnae disagree, but have ye got any suggestions? he disnae leave the compound, and i doubt he's gonnae retire any time soon. ❞

"Right..." Javier mutters, as if he has any idea what a periodical cicada is compared to any other cicada. Frankly, he hardly even knows what a cicada really is; other than a fucking annoying bug that apparently turned toxic and large as all hell in the last however many years it had been exposed to radiation. "Yeah, I'm sure we would've heard about killer cicadas by now if this was the norm," he agrees, though then again - it sounded like it wasn't the first time they'd been around here. Which brought them back to square one. Every toxin had a means of an antidote, didn't it? Or were they all just shit out of luck?

But then again, he was no scientist. He wasn't about to pull a cure out of his ass any time soon. Best leave it to the professionals...

A hand lifts to rub against the back of his neck, glancing back over the crowd of people that surrounded them, and then to the guards and building in question. It was hard to think that a place that was supposed to be so innovative and ground breaking had fallen so far. If this truly had gone through Devil's Elbow before Javier couldn't think of a reasonable excuse not to have a solution at this point. Unless there simply wasn't a solution. And if that were the case wouldn't they have said so by now? 'Go hug your loved ones, it's the last time you'll see 'em.'

"I've heard of him. Don't really know him. Doesn't make much sense why a guy like that would be the head of Afterglow." Yet they'd all heard the rumors about what Afterglow did. They knew it wasn't all it was cracked up to be. But what other choices did they really have around here? Silver Linings, but a small resistance could only go so far to knock down a full blown enterprise like Afterglow. "Sounds like we should do somethin' to get him outta there."

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❝ periodical cicadas, ❞ lindsay replies dryly, his expression flat and unimpressed as he recounts the explanation he'd been slowly collecting via a combination of news articles old and new, conversations with survivors gathered outside the gate who'd been around long enough to witness history repeating itself. despite exposure to countless insects over the years training soldiers in teeming wilderness, his knowledge has only ever extended insofar as which are deadly and which are not. ❝ common in the states, sae they are. not this feckin' variety, o' course. ❞ lips that had been pressed into a flat line twitch downward in a ghost of a grimace. ❝ apparently it's the radiation what did it tae them, nae the livin' underground twenty years. none of it's natural, ye ask me. ❞

but that's not what javier is asking him, and to the actual question, he offers a dismissive scoff. and, to be fair to his brother-in-law, lindsay doesn't disagree with him. his logic is sound. if they could have, wouldn't they have? but to have faith in afterglow is to have faith in a wet match to ignite a flame, a hopeless sort of hope beyond reason. ❝ aye, ye'd think they feckin' would've, ❞ lindsay concedes, glancing between javier and the crowd, ❝ but that assumes they give a rat's arse about these people, and ye ken as well as i that's just nae the truth. has yer brother ever spoken tae ye about dr. estrada? ❞

lindsay's never even met the man, but his name still tastes sour on his tongue when he speaks it aloud. ❝ wee bastard's been in charge in there since the last time this shite happened, and if ye kent a thing about the man, ye'd nae be surprised tae find he didnae give a flyin' feck and tried tae sweep the whole thing under the rug when his folks didnae find a cure afore the last body went cold. ❞ the scot shakes his head, disdain evident in his gaze as he fixes it on javier once more. ❝ tried, i say, as if he didnae clearly feckin' succeed. ❞

A short hum of acknowledgement escapes Javi as Lindsay goes on, and on, about the validity of the protest, looking up at the Afterglow complex with a thoughtful expression. True, the protesters were...an inconvenience for those who worked in the complex. But that seemed just as likely to cause the scientists to work more slowly as it did to work faster. If anyone in there cared about the people out here, they were already working their asses off. The people like Sera, who simply wanted to help people.

Fortunately, none of those Javier cared for had been severely injured in the swarm. At least, not yet. But if Lindsay and Santiago were going to be standing vigil outside Afterglow, out in the open and sitting ducks for another attack? They already risked so much with this Silver Linings shit.

"Fi mentioned this happened before, that these bugs crawled up from underground a couple decades ago. If they knew how to make a cure for it, wouldn't they have done so already? Since the last time?" It seems to make sense, though Javier is no scientist. That was Serafina's thing. But what was different this time that within a matter of days Afterglow could suddenly produce a cure that they hadn't in the previous decade or more?

Still. If it was Sera, or Santi, or Maisie, or any of his family (maybe Lindsay included, for Santi's and Maisie's sakes...) - if they were suffering the extremes of symptoms like some currently were? Lindsay was probably right. Javier would be among those making a scene to find a way to fix it. Though he'd probably do more than just post up outside the building.

Maybe that was selfish, but he was well aware he was a selfish man - that probably wasn't about to change any time soon.

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if nothing else, lindsay o'halloran is observant ; to have an eye trained to catch even the smallest of details was drilled into him in not only in basic but in the extensive specialist training he received after, training that he then passed onto countless others ( no, it was sixty-seven, lindsay has not forgotten the face of a single soldier he's trained ) while he was still back in the european commonwealth. he sees javier approaching out of the corner of his eye, but he doesn't make an effort to address the other man until he's certain the civilian who'd been upended is, in fact, unharmed. when he's confident she's alright and has sent her on her way ― hopefully home, and not back into the raucous crowd ― he turns to javier.

❝ it's nae the ruckus what's goin' tae give them the cure, ❞ lindsay concedes, because insofar as that simple truth is concerned, he can agree with his brother-in-law. ❝ but it puts quite a bit o' pressure on the folks inside, disnae it? cannae come nor go without crossin' intae ... this. ❞ he nods toward the protesters, a crowd that grows rowdier with each day that passes without an antidote. ❝ makes folk feel good besides, rallies spirits an' that, feelin' like they can make a change. ❞ and they could, lindsay thinks, if they were more organized. if they had a set of concrete values, a mission they could align to. if they joined forces with the silver lining. ❝ some o' them are just ... frustrated. an' rightfully so. their loved ones are sufferin' and when they show up askin' fer answers, for help, they're met wi' a feckin' military presence. guns in their faces. would ye nae want tae cause a ruckus yerself? ❞

Javier tended to do his best to stay on the outskirts of the conflicts within Devil's Elbow. He supported the Silver Linings rebellion from the sidelines, mostly because Santiago had put himself at the forefront of it all. Not to mention Afterglow who seemed to be more likely to make a mess out of situations than resolutions. Wasn't that what they were supposed to be here for? Given how the world had gone further to absolute shit since Afterglow had been attempting to piece it back together and they were being plagued by toxic mutant bugs that threatened to take their entire population down with them - Javier couldn't really blame those who had swarmed around the complex in protest.

Still, he hadn't expected quite so many people milling about as he passed through the area. It was a hot pot of agitation and frustration which already felt ready to boil over at any moment. As if to prove his point a small scuffle breaks out, a childish shoving match, before the familiar accented voice rises above the din to settle the dispute.

He arrives beside Lindsay as he's helping up the person who had been unsuspectingly shoved to the ground, tempers seemingly settled - for now. Folding his arms across his chest Javier quirks an eyebrow upwards. "Are people standing about causing a ruckus really going to make a cure magically appear?" If they didn't already have one that they simply were refusing to distribute...which, honestly, Javi wouldn't put past them.