Callout Posts | Abel/Arty/Jack | Lost Letters Car

Abel Lazarus

Abel isn’t really paying attention to the flickering at the Exact moment. Instead he’s looking at the letters. Sure he could write his own but it’s Not guaranteed it will get sent right? Even if they tell him they will he can’t be Sure. Instead he’d rather-

Hold on. That Jack guy. He’s opening letters… without even Checking them? What if Any of these are HIS letter? He’s just crumpling them!!!

“Hey- you shouldn’t go through other people’s mail!” He picks up the letters and actually bothers checking who they’re addressed to- except going up and down isn’t a great idea so that will get inevitably abandoned.

Actually his head’s getting a bit… he leans against the wall for a moment. “Open your own letters. Not everyone elses.” Mail is Important. Very important. It shouldn’t be opened by anyone other than the person it’s addressed to! What if His letter is in there??

Oooh, Jack is upsetting enough Abel is having No issues being Angry. Even at the cost of his health- it seems- because Anger is a disorienting enough emotion without adding it to blood loss. Sure his vision was already a little out of focus but it’s definitely a Little worse now.

Roadie 🪶Jack

Ah, someone was approaching—oh! A guy who owed Jack money, even! Despite Abel’s clear dissatisfaction, Jack just paused to wave cheerily before resuming the envelope-cutting. He did get a little kick out of Abel’s pecking-hen impression, too, but it didn’t last long.

Abel Lazarus “Hey- you shouldn’t go through other people’s mail!”

“Oh, what, like all of these even belong to real people? ’s just a buncha magical garbage to make it harder to find our own.”

“Seriously.” He actually looked at the next envelope first. “ ‘Akira Okimasa’? That’s not a real-people name.” Slit, check, crumple, toss, next. “N… ‘Ngurah’? Oh, absolutely not a real-people name.” What exactly were his standards for a “real-people name”? A mystery.

And Abel wasn’t looking too steady on his feet, huh? Seemed like an excellent time to bring up the monewhat was that smell.

While he vaguely registered someone else’s presence around here, any implications were completely shut out of mind at the sight of the bowl Arty had set down for her mission. After staring for a solid second longer than intended, he hurriedly shook it off and resumed the letter-shearing business. He would just… casually and discreetly sidle towards that thing without looking at it again until it was within easy reach. Right. Yes. Um. What was he doing again.

Arty Takenaka

Arty’s been busying herself with sifting through stacks of letters, looking for her own. She’s still deciding whether she wants to send one or open one. It would be nice to contact her family and let them know she’s okay, but how does she know it’s going to get sent at all? And even if it does, there’s no way it would work as a call for help. She can’t exactly direct anyone to where she is when not even she’s sure of that. She might not even be on Earth right now.

Still, Arty can’t decide one way or the other if she doesn’t have her letter, so it makes sense to at least look for it. And that’s what she’s doing when she’s distracted by the repetitive sound of paper tearing nearby. She thought they only had one letter each? Why is someone opening so many…

She looks up to see Jack ripping through them with reckless abandon. Similarly to Abel, she is scandalized by this. What the heck, dude? That letter he just threw to the ground and trampled on could be from her family!

She opens her mouth to scold him, but someone else gets there first. And yeah, watching Abel tear into Jack is pretty satisfying. She won’t get in the way of that… but she will try to sneak around behind Jack to snag one of the letters he dropped. She has to make sure it’s not for her or anyone else here, after all…

Abel Lazarus

“Who are you to decide if these are real people or not?” He’s too woozy to try to do more than stand against the wall and look… like he needs a nap really badly. “Besides! I saw that you weren’t looking at the names before opening them. You aren’t even making sure these letters are Not Ours first.”

Man. Just thinking about the idea his letter could be getting carelessly crumpled like that… It could be from Uncle Marius! He wants to hear from his Uncle so badly! Is he looking for him? How long has he been gone really?

“Mail is important. Written word can be meaningful! It could be confidential! You have No Right to go through anyone’s business! What if you’re opening the last correspondence someone could Get from someone meaningful? The news of someone’s passing? The news of something good or bad lovingly written to someone too far to visit- What is Wrong with you?”

Wow he cares a lot about mail huh? I mean. Yeah sorta but. His own letter will no doubt be so intensely personal. So private. That would belong to him and him alone. Whatever news it held- bad or good. Whatever thoughts it conveyed. His chest is aching.

Mostly because his anger and blood loss combined is making his heart race and he’s starting to slide down the wall a little but that’s fine. He’s taking deep breaths.

Roadie 🪶Jack

Jack just grinned widely at Abel’s rant. Oh, this guy was riled. Would he throw another punch or faint first? Place your bets. Good TV, man, good TV. Except in real life, or whatever this was. If only he had popcorn. Orrrr some soup. Working on that one.

Abel Lazarus You aren’t even making sure these letters are Not Ours first.”

“Oh, you got this whole rant on how terrible a person I am for not thinking of whatever imaginary people you want me to, but when it comes down to it…”

His voice dropped low.

“…all you care about is your own problem. And you’re moral-grandstanding me here? Rich. Though, speaking of rich, you do owe me money…”

Abel Lazarus What is Wrong with you?”

Predictably, he cackled. “You want it alphabetically, or topically, or… You sure you got enough time for that answer, pal?”

Arty Takenaka She merely soaks in Abel’s rant as she looks at each note only long enough to determine the name of the recipient before dropping it back on the floor.

A few paper crinkling sounds nearby made him twitch reflexively, but no one was attacking. Not even throwing a couple wadded papers at him. …Disappointing? Yes. That’s what this was.

Which was why Arty’s voice out of nowhere made him jump a little. Because that’s what he did when disappointed. At least he settled down again fast enough.

Arty Takenaka “Hey… what are you doing.”

Oh freak he’d been caught. No nope everything was fine. He could continue sidling towards the soup without remotely looking at it. …He wouldn’t knock it over doing that, right? Maybe he did need to sneak glances no nope he was playing too dangerous a game right now.

He faced Arty, specifically making sure to look down on her.

“Committing horrible crimes against the whole of polite society, accordin’ to you two.”

Arty Takenaka

Arty’s mouth twitches, just a tiny bit, as she’s bending down to pick up the letters. Abel is absolutely ripping into Jack, way more than necessary, but Arty’s honestly here for it as she feels it is very deserved. Thankfully any trace of her amusement is easily hidden by the fact that she’s on the ground right now. She merely soaks in Abel’s rant as she looks at each note only long enough to determine the name of the recipient before dropping it back on the floor. (Look… it’s not her job to clean it up. She didn’t make the mess!)

Not hers… not hers… not hers either. And okay, maybe she’s also looking for some of the other people here she likes, but she doesn’t see any of their names either.

Having more or less caught up with Jack’s pace, she stands back up. “Okay, those weren’t ours,” she announces for Abel’s benefit. “Still, you really shouldn’t be doing that.” That is directed at Jack.

And now that she’s talking to him, Arty realizes why she was able to catch up with Jack’s Crusade Against Mail. He seems to be… somewhat distracted by something. Is it… the soup? It’s not the soup, right? Arty’s definitely misreading the situation. “Hey… what are you doing.”

Abel Lazarus

Arty Takenaka “Okay, those weren’t ours,”

“Thank you, Arty.” He gives her a smile and then gives Jack a Look again. Buddy you are Anti-scary I promise you that.

Roadie 🪶Jack Would he throw another punch or faint first?

Luckily for Abel, Neither, but mostly because he trained himself to punch right first to preserve his precious left hand- and even attempting to use that arm puts him in enough pain he either Has to think it through or forgets what his goal was altogether. Not fainting is more spite at this point. Only delayed shock can get him now! And as far as he’s concerned that isn’t Real!

Roadie 🪶Jack “…all you care about is your own problem. And you’re moral-grandstanding me here? Rich. Though, speaking of rich, you do owe me money…”

This. This is true. He does only care because it’s affecting him. He’s not exactly going to Deny that. In fact he was going to deflect until Jack Offered his deflection point!

“I don’t owe you Shit. Maybe get off your Ass and actually Help people if you want to Earn something.”

Ugh. God if only he wasn’t injured. He’d have Definitely punched Jack and he would NOT have felt bad about it! But somehow he’s Extremely sure Jack fights dirty and he is being forced to think enough to realize Jack’s fingers in his shoulder might Actually be enough to cause an infection instantly or something. He’d need a moment where he knows he could get a hit in and run for it… But he’s not going to put Arty in danger. Not on purpose at least.

Also- God forbid he hit Jack and instantly faint or something. No. He needs to gain back at least enough blood volume to beat the brain fog.

But then… Well. If he did hit Jack. He would Deserve it.

Roadie 🪶Jack “Committing horrible crimes against the whole of polite society, accordin’ to you two.”

“You are a crime against polite society.” He grumbles- but now that he’s not actively going off he’s getting more secure on his feet and feeling his brain get just a bit clearer. He really should be resting- but there’s shit to do.

Arty Takenaka

Arty is still mostly just watching Abel and Jack go back and forth like it’s a game of table tennis. The less involved she is, the better for her, probably. Though..

Roadie 🪶Jack He faced Arty, specifically making sure to look down on her. “Committing horrible crimes against the whole of polite society, accordin’ to you two.”

She’s involved now whether she wants that or not. Arty takes a small step back, and in response to his comment, because she can’t think of anything to say, she just… shrugs. Like, it’s just my opinion, take it or leave it.

Abel Lazarus “You are a crime against polite society.”

Thankfully, that defuses the tension. She snort-exhales through her nose in that way that’s Not a laugh, but way closer to one than she’s gotten the entire time she’s been here. Guess Arty can appreciate a good immature zinger (as long as it comes from the side she’s rooting for, at least).

Still, by and large, she’s concerned by the general way this argument is trending. Maybe the announcement of the killing game is still a little too fresh in her mind and she’s just overthinking it. But Abel’s language is getting more and more confrontational—she notes the increase in curse words—and she’s just realizing that the reason why Jack has been slicing open envelopes with such ease is because he has a knife.

Arty has never successfully defused an argument in her life, so she knows better than to try that directly. But maybe she can distract at least one of the parties enough to drop the arguing. So, she picks the soup back up, now that her hands are no longer otherwise occupied, and walks over to Abel.

“Uh, how have you been doing, after the whole… thing.” God, she sucks at sounding concerned. Absolutely nothing like how Roni does it. “You’re walking around. That’s good.” Should he be doing that? “Should you be doing that?” Oh god she just blurted that out didn’t she. Dang it, Arty.

Roadie 🪶Jack

Abel Lazarus “I don’t owe you [Crap]. Maybe get off your [Butt] and actually Help people if you want to Earn something.”

“But I lent you my very own high-quality equipment!” Meaning a water bottle. Which he was pretty sure he’d seen on someone else here, too, but that wasn’t gonna help his argument. Could’ve been his imagination, anyway. “Payment can be given for goods as well as services, yanno.”

He gave a low chuckle. “And I’ve made much more off hurting people than helping ’em. ’Specially when they’re as ungrateful as you.”

Abel Lazarus “You are a crime against polite society.”

“Damn right I am!” Unfortunately, the target could also appreciate a good immature zinger. And he sure didn’t seem very penitent.

Arty Takenaka So, she picks the soup back up, now that her hands are no longer otherwise occupied, and walks over to Abel.

So she was onto him! Whatever she actually said next didn’t really register as he stared at the bowl. Was—Was she giving it to Abel? No?? She wasn’t allowed to??? But they were clearly already allied against Jack, so why wouldn’t she? Because it was giving away good food, but historically some idiots clearly weren’t too concerned about that crime. And if he stood here quibbling to himself about it, he could lose his only chance to get this soup to its rightful owner. His cover was already blown, anyway, so might as well stop playing around.

He slipped over beside the others, his hands free. Since she still had the goods, he’d be targeting Arty.

“You did actually check to see what that was, right? ’s way too spiced-up for a guy who lost half his blood an hour ago.” Was it an hour? Heck if he had any idea. “Why don’t you find him some toast or somethin’ that won’t just make him feel sicker?”

“Unless that’s the point?” Conniving. This girl really knew how to play these games. “Waste of good stew, though.”

Abel Lazarus

Roadie 🪶Jack He gave a low chuckle. “And I’ve made much more off hurting people than helping ’em. ’Specially when they’re as ungrateful as you.”

Calling him ungrateful? Sure. Totally true on one hand but on the other- Jack calling him on it doesn’t make him self aware at all. It makes him Less aware in fact. Besides- it’s not exactly like Jack is the person he’s Supposed to be grateful Towards. Threatening him though- Well. Abel should have some self preservation but at the moment? No.

Arty Takenaka “Uh, how have you been doing, after the whole… thing.” God, she sucks at sounding concerned. Absolutely nothing like how Roni does it. “You’re walking around. That’s good.” Should he be doing that? “Should you be doing that?” Oh god she just blurted that out didn’t she. Dang it, Arty.

But this Is Good at distracting him.

“I’m fine Arty.” He’s not. Decidedly he isn’t- but he’s not exactly Actively in danger of passing out anymore now that he’s Not yelling and throwing a fit. Blurting out the ‘should you be doing that’ doesn’t affect him negatively. It seems like a more honest question the way it’s asked- Not so much like being nagged.

All the same he’s not eager to answer that with Jack so near. He glances at him for a moment before saying, “I’ll rest soon- I’m not doing anything I can’t handle.” This feels like a solid reassurance to him- so as far as he’s concerned that worry is resolved. As if that’s how that works or something.

Roadie 🪶Jack “Unless that’s the point?” Conniving. This girl really knew how to play these games. “Waste of good stew, though.”

If anyone else had suggested that Abel might have paid attention. He might have worried about it- but this was Jack. This was Jack suggesting it so he calls it. Maybe the stew might end up being too much for him but now? If Arty offers it he Will Eat It. He will Eat Every Last Bit of it. Who cares if he doesn’t even Like Stew much? Who cares if he probably Will Not Like it?

Totally skips over him he could use it to his advantage with Jack- because instead he’s decided that if he’s offered this stew he will Show Jack how Grateful he IS.

… Real upset you can’t just punch the guy, huh Abel?

“Don’t listen to him.” He tells Arty, “Might as well Ignore him.”

Arty Takenaka

Abel Lazarus “I’m fine Arty.” … “I’ll rest soon- I’m not doing anything I can’t handle.”

Arty nods at this, relief evident on her face. She really had been genuinely worried about Abel. He still doesn’t look super great right now, but—if he says he’s fine, he’s fine. That’s all there is to it in her mind.

She looks down at the soup in her hands, making sure it hadn’t spilled in all this time. “That’s good. I, uh, got this… and soup is supposed to be good for healing, right? I mean I guess that’s more… like for a cold than an injury, but…” She furrows her brow. “It can’t hurt, right…?”

Roadie 🪶Jack “You did actually check to see what that was, right? ’s way too spiced-up for a guy who lost half his blood an hour ago.”

Uh-oh! Purposefully or not, Jack targets the right doubt at the right time. Arty’s eyes widen, and she looks lost. Is that a real thing? Is she actually just making this worse?

Roadie 🪶Jack “Why don’t you find him some toast or somethin’ that won’t just make him feel sicker?” … “Unless that’s the point?”

“No!” she says emphatically. “I’m not doing anything like that! I’m just trying to… whatever. I don’t have toast. This is all I got.”

Jack does have a point, but unfortunately he’s biased Arty against him too much for her to listen to him at this point. As soon as she gets the OK from Abel, she hands the stew out to him. “You’ve probably eaten rich people food before, right? So like, you have a cultured… stomach. So it’s probably fine.”

Roadie 🪶Jack

Abel’s confirmation that he was all right got a slight eyebrow rise out of Jack, but there weren’t any grounds to contradict the guy, as far as Jack was concerned. Yeah, yeah, the blood loss, we’ve all seen it. At least Abel was funny to watch when he was stomping mad here.

Abel Lazarus “Don’t listen to him.” He tells Arty, “Might as well Ignore him.”

After a moment’s debate as to whether he should be offended or not, Jack slid into the more natural option.

“Oh, yes, please ignore me. Makes it easier to get away with all the horrible crimes against society.” He swiped an envelope from whatever surface was within reach as demonstration, though he didn’t take his eyes off the Situation.

Arty Takenaka “No! I’m not doing anything like that!

Jack just grinned at her, in the fashion of “ha-ha, who’s been caught now?”

Arty Takenaka I don’t have toast. This is all I got.”

“Then just wait? See what the next car’s got. Better for him to have nothin’ than to add insult to injury. Guy’s not gonna starve to death in one hour.” Because Jack was contributing so positively to their progress in leaving this car.

Arty Takenaka “You’ve probably eaten rich people food before, right?

He blinked rapidly at that, clearly bewildered, but when he opened his mouth, he just shut it again. Okay, sure, stew was rich people food now.

More pressing was how it would literally be a rich man’s food if Jack didn’t act quickly. How did he play this? He could physically overpower the both of them, he was sure, but if they dropped the stew, even him catching it couldn’t guarantee nothing would splash out the sides. And wasting soup—er, any kind of food—was completely unacceptable. But if Abel ate it, then Jack wasn’t eating it, and that wasn’t acceptable, either, and…

Ugh! He’d just stay back from the handoff and hope Abel couldn’t stand the taste of it—it was pretty strong, he could tell by the smell. And auugh, it smelled good.

Either way, if Abel would at least set the bowl down for a second—and surely he couldn’t down the thing in one go?—then Jack could find a safer opportunity to swipe whatever remained.

Man. He really shoulda just grabbed it earlier. But at least this way the stew was more of a contentious prize than just soup, so his apparent interest was excusable. It was something.

Abel Lazarus

Arty Takenaka “You’ve probably eaten rich people food before, right? So like, you have a cultured… stomach. So it’s probably fine.”

He accepts the offer of the stew and nods. “I’ve eaten many different things- it can’t be too different from everything I’ve had before.” It’s not like he was always rich either! He was, once, briefly, upper middle class. (With a rich uncle ready to supplement what his father didn’t have.) Besides- The stew’s scent isn’t exactly offensive to him- which tells him he probably won’t Hate it.

It’s all going according to plan. He gives Jack a smug look.

Jack’s continuing to open letters makes Abel’s anger bubble back up, but he’s so sure the stew is going to give him the smug satisfaction hitting Jack would usually give without the worry about being hit in return.

As if this isn’t surely making Jack more upset with him. More willing to Hurt him. Totally not at all possibly happening because you’ve decided to spite eat soup.

In fact he decided the best way to reassure Arty and rub it in Jack’s face is to test the food.

And he does like it. It’s not his favorite thing or anything- and he certainly wouldn’t be going out of his way for it- but it tastes Fine. It’s definitely a Lot of food for his current medical state and he’s not positive eating it Is a good idea but. It’s not richer than he’s used to or anything- and any stomach issues sound like a problem for later him- not current him. He’ll just have to make sure to Rest after this.

He gives Arty a smile. “It’s delicious. Thank you.” And his smile turns into a smug grin for Jack’s sake before he eats more.