bakerstreet | and since we've no place to go

and since we've no place to go

❄ it's quiet
and the snow's beautiful tonight

snowfall;

stage i; none, streets are already blanketed in white.
stage ii; very light and intermittent.
stage iii; light - moderate. lasts longer periods.
stage iv; continuous, heavy snowfall.
stage v; the hardest of cores - blizzards, snowstorms, you name it.

scenarios;

① fuck the police, this is the best time for a walk. hope you've got a nice thick coat on.
② stranded in the buttcrack of nowheresville? weren't you watching the time? now you've gone and missed that last bus out of there. or maybe you're lost, somehow. what do?
③ literally chilling, in this weather, is quite easy to do. sitting around relaxing in it is a wee more difficult, but sometimes much more enjoyable, especially if shelter can be found. the snow is beautiful to watch, after all.
④ the weather's not going to stop you. your snow fort's packed full of ammo and ready to go. those aren't snow angels over there; they mark where the poor souls you've downed have fallen. be careful with that snowman's head!!
⑤ you're about fifty miles from civilization but there's a roof over your head, so never mind the chilly draught, right? right. you mightn't be the only one lucky enough to stumble upon this little shelter, though. remember to share the blanket.
⑥ everyone stuck outside should be jelly. you've got a fireplace and hot cocoa and damn if it isn't awesome. a heater's not quite so romantic, but it'd do. there'd better be a backup generator in case the power trips.
⑦ mix and match, or make up your own.

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I think so. We can't be sure.

[Because that's what happened, really--the Omnics attacked, and no one really knew why. Overwatch in its earliest days functioned through asymmetrical warfare. They weren't breaking into Omniums to negotiate with the god programs. They were there to quarantine and shut them down.

The public was surprised when it came out that famous war hero Jack Morrison held no real ill-will towards post-crisis Omnics and did, in fact, advocate for their rights in later years. Then again, few people understood what it meant to fight against them like he did. Now the pendulum has swung back in the other direction. Mondatta is dead. Progress is being undone. 76 wishes he had the answers.]

Very few things are ever like video games.

[But he doesn't need to tell her that.]

[ Her hands lower but she doesn't stand. The comeback is quick on her tongue. ]

Everything is a game.

[ No. Really. Just like Life.

Nobody could tell her differently, anyway. Not only did it make it easier to handle situations, but if she looked at everything like a game then it could be analyzed. It could be beaten, she could win. Would win. She could come at it with everything she had and still laugh at the end of the day.

Still look for answers that elude the best of them. ]

Perimeter checks are really common in games. Usually I'm the one sneaking in, though. [ Hana gestures around them. ] Weather just like this is perfect because it's hard to detect anyone until it's too late.

[ Is she teasing? When is she not? ]

Not everything.

[76 fires that back quickly enough. He's not going to try and convince her, because he knows this is just something that comes with experience--or maybe he's just that serious. Still, he can't deny that there are certain advantages to that kind of thinking, in very specific situations.

Hana might be teasing, but 76 is as deadpan as ever. Maybe he's taking her seriously on this.]

If something breached the perimeter, Winston would've alerted us by now.

[ He won't convince her.

ll she does is narrow her eyes at him, though. As much as he knows he won't convince her, she knows Soldier: 76 is way too serious to think everything is a game like she does. Whether she means literally, it's a game, or that everything in life is a game. ]

If the spy was any good, Winston couldn't know. Maybe they have, like, thermoptic camo.

[ Her hand does the motion of covering her face in a sweeping gesture. ]

Or maybe they're too fast to even be detected.

[ She poses. like this. His jacket hangs on her like a curtain. ]

[She’s right—he’s way too serious, but the pose does pull another genuine laugh out of him. It’s not at her by any means, but perhaps at the situation in general. Not that he’s discounting spies with thermoptic camo (and Reaper has broken into Gibraltar before), but it seems unlikely to happen at this moment in time.

Snow is not very friendly for sneaking.]

We’d see their footprints.

[He points behind them, making note of the trail they’ve left on their own.]

[ Huh. He laughs more when there aren't that many people around. Is he shy? Haha, that's cute.

Hana looks over her shoulder at the gesture, spotting her mecha's footprints, her own much smaller ones scattered around, and Soldier's. The steady fall of snow hasn't covered anything up yet. Incluuuding, ]

Oh! What's that?

[ They're not the footprints of a person. Too small for that. There are another set of something that breaks off into the trees. ]

I'm gonna find out!

[ Scrambling under the coat, she pulls out her small pistol and starts jogging (SLOWLY WITH HER KNEES HIGH) through the snow and into the treeline, hair bouncing. Her whole body bouncing, like a rabbit. ]

[He watches her make the realization and look around them, seemingly taking stock of the footprints--but then seeing something else. 76 doesn't expect her to break their patrol in pursuit of something, and his own paranoia has him running after her.]

Song, wait.

[Because the last thing he needs is for her to wander off when he's theoretically supposed to be keeping them both safe (or maybe that's just a self-imposed responsibility).]

Probably just an animal.

[ Does she wait?

Nope.

The treeline has a lot more cover than the slightly open area they were hanging around in. It's not long before she's disappeared behind the dark silhouette of a pine tree and it's low hanging branches in her search for said animal. ]

Or an animal spy!

[ Do those exist? Probably. We're talking about a game where the developer thought about including a cat hero. There's already a talking gorilla! ]

Maybe we can convince him to join our side. Star Wars style. You be Palpatine. You're gray enough. I dunno about wrinkles, though. [ PAUSES. Then, looks over her shoulder for Soldier: 76. ]

You have seen Star Wars, right? Wasn't it made in your time?

Hana--

[But she's already gone and 76 is already stomping off after her, gun at the ready, even if he's pretty sure they're not going to find anything overtly threatening. Maybe an animal, but definitely not an animal spy.]

I'm not Palpatine.

[He's seen Star Wars, sure, even though it was all sort of an old classic when he was growing up. What he's sure of is that he's definitely on the side of good and doesn't seem very pleased with being equated to the Emperor. If she wants to play this game, she has a better idea.]

Obi-Wan.

[Seems appropriate.]

[ He doesn't know what they'll find. It will probably just be a normal, run of the mill animal though. That doesn't stop her from hoping to find more talking animals.

Side of good? Okay, vigilante that refuses to show his face. She already tried to go the superhero route with him earlier but he dodged it. This time, when she relates him to a bad guy, he wants to be the good one.

She can't win. Or can she? ]

... You mean A New Hope Obi-Wan or Phantom Menace Obi-Wan?

[ At this point, she has stopped her search and rests her pistol on her shoulder, the other hand on her hip. ]

I'm old. Take a guess.

[76 doesn't seem to want to entertain the conversation further, even if he knows he'll have to. He's stomping through the snow in an apparent attempt to determine what they may or may not be dealing with.]

Lost the tracks.

[Maybe she can see better than he can, but he's fairly certain the rest of the trail has been wiped away in the snow.]

[ Her smile curls a bit wider. ]

Hah, you admitted it.

[ WHY WOULDN'T HE? Now she just has to find a way for him to take off his visor. He may have thought she had let that go, but she hasn't.

For the tracks, either. Scoffing, she taps the barrel of her gun against her neck. ]

You give up too easily. Pay attention my old Padawan, your master D.Va will show you how it's done.

[ By crouching and sneaking around a tree. Most of her body is covered by snow as she shuffles through. This kind of sneaking works in video games, okay. ]

[Look, Hana, 80% of what he does is complain about being old. None of this is a secret.]

I'm just stating the obvious.

[He's also pretty sure this is not how Star Wars works, but it's been kind of a while since he's seen the movies, and he doesn't want to start an argument about padawans, or whatever. 76 isn't nearly as stealthy as she is, trudging after her and looking decidedly unamused.

Maybe a little cold, even.]

This is how it's done?

[ Neither with her calling him old man. Still, as the little shit she is, she is compelled to point out that he admitted he's old. Maybe the reason she calls him old so much is because he mentions it himself. ]

Has your old age affected your memory?

[ Before he can answer, she holds up her hand in the universal signal to stop. Hana herself has stopped in her tracks and is staring ahead.

Possibly about thirty feet ahead of them is a rabbit. Its winter coat is just setting in so it's a feat to Hana's eyesight and how much she pays attention that she was even able to spot it. Without a special visor.

Her voice drops down to a whisper, ]

It's so cute.

[ But manages to sound as bright and enthusiastic if she had been shouting it aloud. ]

[76 lets out a long-suffering sigh and continues to follow her to the culprit, if only because it's increasingly white out and he doesn't want either of them to get lost. What she finds is, of course, predictable, and he comes to a stop, folding his arms.]

Doesn't look like a spy to me.

[His voice is lowered, too, but still as gravely as ever. Unamused.]

You're gonna scare it away.

[ He can speak for himself, D.Va doesn't get lost!!! ]

No, I won't.

[ Her mascot is a rabbit. Essentially, she's one of them. If Bastion can have a little animal friend, then why can't she?

Hana starts creeping closer, making the least amount of noise as possible while putting her pistol back in its holster. ]

If anybody is gonna scare it away, it's gonna be you. You would look more friendly if you took off your visor.

[He's aware that he's the one more likely to scare it away, so he hangs back as Hana keeps getting closer. 76, despite his objections, will even speak a little quieter, just in case.]

I'm not takin' it off.

[Not even for cute little bunny rabbits.]

[ He's a big ol' (as they say online) "Tsundere"

Her plan is foiled again. ]

Come on!

[ Whisper yells. A bit too loudly. The rabbit stops cleaning its little face and lifts its head, ear twitching towards them. Hana curses under her breath, Korean, and goes completely still.

It's the end of their Rabbit Befriending Journey. Seeing the two of them and the glaring red light from 76's visor, it turns and hops off deeper into the forest. ]

Wait, no! [ There are too lunging steps of Hana's long legs before her small body is no match for the thickly packed snow and she

faceplants. With a shout. ] Waugh!

[ Snow flutters around her. ]

No.

[Well, now that she's scared off the rabbit, 76 doesn't have to worry about being quiet or treading lightly. He's not sure what Hana expected out of this, but this seems like an entirely predictable outcome from where he's standing, and he watches the chaos unfold with his arms crossed.

But he's not a monster. As soon as she goes over, 76 is there to lift her up by the collar, setting her back down on her feet with one hand and surprising ease. He'll even dust the snow off the sleeves of her jacket.]

Come on. Our patrol's probably over by now.

[And Winston is going to wonder where they got to.]

[ Being lifted from the collar isn't that pleasant. Okay, not pleasant at all. Hana doesn't being made to feel like a child, and the way 76 treats her when she's done nothing but BE COOL (no, she hasn't) is unfair.

Coupled with the snow on her face, it's no wonder she's scowling at 76. One hand wipes down from her forehead to her chin and, feeling ornery, flicks it at his chest to repay him dusting the snow off her person. ]

It was over forever ago. Seriously, I doubt anything is gonna get through Winston's alarm system, Torbleborble's defense turrets, or your wall hax visor. [ She taps her temple. ] And I have new games to play.

[ Always the games. ]

Then let’s go in.

[If 76 feels at all sorry for manhandling her in such a way, he doesn’t show it—though it is difficult to tell with the mask he wears. No matter how he feels, he’s not going to budge, not even in the face of her scowl. Now that they’ve determined their shift is over, he’ll be the first to trudge back towards the base.

And he knows he might regret asking, but—]

What games?

You're the boss.

[ She snarks and follows behind him, kicking snow at the back of his legs with every step she takes.

Until he asks. REMEMBER, HE ASKED. At least it gets her to jog to catch up so she can talk at length about her games. ]

So many! I have a backlog of them. Pokémon Yin and Yang just came out! I have to catch'em all, all over again. I think I'm going to go for a water type starter this time. The water type is a really cute rabbit. I always go for fire types but it's good to mix it up.

Oh! And Grand Theft Auto 9! I'm not a huge fan, but it's in my personal code to try all games at least once. Someone just came out with a new Star Wars game, too! [ They talked about Star Wars earlier. Hmmm... ]

Why don't you come play that one with me?

[Yeah, perhaps there's some measure of regret here as she instantly launches into a long discussion about the games she is playing and the games she is going to play and he unfortunately recognizes more of those franchises than he should probably admit. Isn't anyone going to come out with a new IP, ever?

But it's endearing, in a way, to hear her so passionate about it.]

I could.

[Could. Not necessarily will. He's probably going to regret this.]

You like Call of Duty?

[ The first thing out of her mouth is a snort.

She should have seen Soldier:76, the epitome of Call of Duty, asking her that when it came to games. ]

Is this some roundabout way to ask if I like you? You're basically a personification of Call of Duty.

[ META??? But it's true. ] On the Overwatch team, anyway. Winston is Donkey Kong, McCree reminds me of Raynor from StarCraft. Stupid Terran.

[ Does she like Call of Duty, though? ]

Okay. It's not my most favorite game, but it's cool. [ Said like she doesn't have Black Ops (all of them) or Infinite Warfare or Heroes or anything other NAME THERE IS in 2017 or in the future. She does. ] I'd still kick your butt if we went one on one.

I’m not.

[He kind of is, which is probably why he sounds so offended. It’s entirely likely he’s played those kinds of games post-Crisis, and did a lot of whining about how military operations are actually nothing like that.

76 is pretty good at it, though, not that he’s ever going to admit it outright. It is difficult, however, for him to resist the call of competition, even if it’s just video games with a nineteen-year-old girl.]

Don’t be so sure.

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i die and come back to life every 2 weeks

i will wait 4 u

u have been, bless ur sweet soul

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seductively slides into your inbox

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poses sexily

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draw me like one of your french girls

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