Meeting those Who Helped Him ((open thread))

[losthunter]

Two weeks after Halloween, Hunter was finally feeling up for company again. And while much of what happened between him and Karlene (Electra) was still a blur in his head, he remembered the many people who helped him out during the whole night.

And he wanted to reconnect with those who were there. Get to know those who he had not met before. And answer any questions they might have had.

He sends out a few invitations over PINpoint to those who helped. And waited for a response.

Comments

[alittlehinky]

Oh. Okay, he didn't screw that up yet. Good. Cricket breathes a little sigh of relief.

"Well...I can't go back now. But it was beautiful. The woods and the lakes and all, and nature? And the people were poor and practical and neighbors took care of each other."

He rests his elbows on the counter, chin in his hands and gaze soft and distant. "Jackie and I used to spend all summer barefoot outside, gettin' into trouble."

[losthunter]

"Have you wanted to visit the mountains on another world?" Hunter asks softly.

"Who is Jackie?" He grins.

[alittlehinky]

"Well," he says with a smile, "Marie took me to see the McDowell mountains in Arizona. Just for a while, on account of how I was missing home. I might go back sometime. Maybe even visit a couple other worlds."

He looks wistful, giving Hunter a lopsided smile. "My best friend back home. Jack Bondurant. Knew him since we was little. We both lost parents around the same time in the Spanish flu, and I reckon just sorta...bonded or somethin'."

"His brothers were a little like my brothers, too, some days." He reaches into his pocket and pulls out the casing from a shotgun shell. "He gave me this," he says with a grin. "Picked it up after he saw Floyd Banner at a shootout."

[losthunter]

Hunter glances at the shotgun shell. And smiles. "If you wanted, I could put that on a chain, so you could wear it all the time."

[alittlehinky]

Cricket is just really glad that whatever power brought him to the Nexus brought the contents of his pockets with him. He didn't have a whole lot on him at the time, but he had this.

"You could? I mean...if it wouldn't be no trouble? That'd be great. He's...I ain't likely to see him again, but I reckon I loved his silly ass."

[losthunter]

"I could even engrave his initials on it, if you wanted." Hunter offered. He chuckled when Cricket adds that he loved his friend.

"It is important to keep those you love close to you, even when you can't see them anymore."

[alittlehinky]

"His initials?" Cricket has to consider that seriously, something sober and a little sad creeping into his expression. "...nah, not that. I'm not sure how he'd feel about it."

It sounds too much like a token exchanged between lovers, and Cricket is pretty keenly aware Jack's brain didn't work that way where he was concerned. He smiles again a moment later, though, and asks tentatively, "Can you engrave 'invincible' on it? The word? Or is it too long?"

"See, there was this story about Jack and his brothers goin' around in Franklin, about how they couldn't die. And that'd be a good way to remember him, and maybe good luck for me, too."

[losthunter]

Hunter studies the item again. And then nods. "Yes. I can do that."

"Well, I hope it does bring you good luck."

[alittlehinky]

"You're aces, then." Cricket grins at him happily. "I'd like that a lot."

"I guess it fits me a little now, too. That old story. Because I died at home, but I'm still alive here. Maybe some of their invincible rubbed off on me."

"So, you're an artist? What kinda work do you do, other than paintin' on walls?"

[losthunter]

"I am glad I can make it into something more for you."

Hunter smiles. "Well, the mural was painted by my friends. Adia, Jim and Steve mostly. Caspar set up an alarm system for me. And Hermione placed some wards around the place."

"As for me, I am mostly a portrait artist. But I have expanded into landscapes, pottery and creating jewellery."