Snow. No no no no there should not be snow. And trees. Okay yes there should be trees, trees are good, trees are nice, but there should not be so many and they should not be so... here
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Okay, he might have to be spending nights in the cabins? But that certainly doesn't mean Bruce is going to live in the things. Oh, no. So since the bleeding debacle, he's been staying in one of the most out-of-the-way cabins but he makes sure to only go into it after dark and to leave the barracks before it gets light. He feels slightly bad about avoiding everyone and sneaking around especially after the various people tried to help him (expressly against his wishes but still).
But he can't do otherwise. It's just how things are.
At least now when he's out in the woods with snow on the ground, he's got a blanket wrapped around his bare shoulders, and the remains of another one wrapped around each foot as makeshift shoe-sock-things. He'd make a fire, but... That involves having fire-making materials and wood-chopping stuff. Neither of which he's got on him as of right now. ...And his shoe-sock-things are getting pretty soaked through.
All right. This kind of sucks. This is why he stayed in South America long as he did - you didn't get frostbite when you don't have shoes.
In an attempt to keep some kind of warm, he wanders around, figuring the activity is better than sitting. But when he walks in on a young girl doing... Something with the snow, he has to stop and stare.
"Wh-what?" Bruce shakes his head, a small frown of confusion on his face. "This isn- I mean. Kind of obviously not mine, what with the. Whole it being a forest thing. It's n- Okay, well, I kind of. Walk around the tree sometimes, but they're not mine. So. It's okay, really, with the whole. It's all right."
He huddles in on himself a little, trying to tuck in all the corners the cold air keeps sneaking into. When she asks about the whole going part, he flashes a quick, bitter smile. "If I knew, I'd. You know. Be there instead of here. But." A jerky shrug. "Pretty sure this place doesn't have any kind of infrastructure or anything like that, what with the whol-"
Bruce pauses, mouth hanging open a moment before he shuts it again into a thin line. "...You just woke up here didn't you. So you d-" He'd facepalm right now, but that would involve putting skin outside the blanket and that just ain't happening.
He's not just a hobo. He's a crazy hobo. Winny takes a slow step back. "I'll just. Go and find someone else who can... point me in the home direction. Right direction. Point me in the right direction. Uniforms and... helpful."
She waves a hand to try and illustrate her half-made point before nodding again and backing away slowly.
Bruce visibly twitches at the mention of the u-word, and he can't help the glance around the clearing - like agents are just going to pop out of the tree trunks or something. The second he does it, he's immediately whapping himself on the side of the head for it. If anyone of that particular nature was around, they'd have gone and tracked him down long before this.
"Sorry, that w- ...Never mind." Shaking his head, he frowns in concern at the young woman. "Look, miss, the thing is, er. I'm. Well, pretty relatively sure about the fact that home isn't in any direction." That comes out a bit sadder than he'd meant it, for reasons of his own that he'd much rather not go into right now. So he shoves it down and ignores it (standard procedure), and gets back on topic. "...Ahem. Anyway, there's."
He pauses to try and figure out his bearings before pointing in a general direction. "I don't know what you'd call it, but there's a whole bunch of people living over in that way? There's this group of buildings or cabins or whatever you want to call it, and they'll. You know. Help you out with the whole. Being here thing. It kind of takes some getting used to, but, you know."
And this whole time Bruce has been edging away himself because... Yeah.
She shakes her head and keeps shaking it until he hits the bit about people living in cabins who will help her get used to being out here. Then it looks like someone attached her head to a berserk ceiling fan, she's shaking it so hard.
"Thank you, sorry, no, I mean, I'm sure it's a very nice place and you're all very nice people but I've done this before already where I lived outside and, and all that and it wasn't really... I mean, nothing against people who like it but it's not really my... first choice, and I don't want my foster parents or Social Services to think I ran away because I like where I am now and I don't want them to move me and you didn't need to know that anyway but thank you I'll be. Quiet now. And. Go."
She curtsies, kind of, as best she can in jeans and a button-up shirt, before turning to flee.
...Okay, that shaking is definitely worrying. And then she's about to go and run off and Bruce flails a bit. Him running around out here? That's okay. He knows how to run if anything decides to go after him, not to mention his built-in insurance policy. But her? He can't just let her run off to get slashed and maimed or whatevered by whatever's out there.
"N-n-n-no, no no no no, that's not." He sighs, shutting his eyes as he tries to figure out how to make these words actually work for once. "Nobody here ran away, they just. Woke up here. Like you. Um, okay? It's not like some camping trip or anything like that, it's just. The only actual place around here for... Well. A really long ways. And, trust me on this, I've been, you know. Looking around for places. Not much else to do with the time, except walking, you know?"
He rubs the back of his neck, wincing at how he knows this sounds. Also the cold. That's also a factor. "And even if you liked where you were, that's. Most definitely not where you are now. It sucks, yeah, but. The options here are kind of staying out here in the snow and possibly getting eaten by something cause. There's a lot of somethings out here, or. Being over there with all those people and the food and the warm and. ...Yeah."
A beat, as he fidgets a bit, debating what he's about to do. "...Er. Okay, I could actually. Show you the whole thing. The fort or whatever it is, and then you can. Figure out what you want to do. But I'm pretty sure that you don't want to stay out here. It's not exactly, you know. Hospitable. Or any of that."
"We've been kidnapped?" Her voice jumps about an octave and a half in the middle of that sentence. It makes sense, of a kind, given what the BSAR agents told her, but -
"That's... Yeah, that would be one way of putting it. Sorry."
Not that any of this is his fault, but... It's a reflex. He can't help the apology.
Another wince. "Er... I did, at that. With the. I mean, there's just a general bunch of stuff out here that you don't want to run into on your own, or. ...Ever. But!" He says that last bit trying to calm her down before any crazy can happen as a result - not that it wouldn't be warranted, but he wouldn't know how to deal with that. And so he'd rather not. "But, you know. Uh. They-"
They avoid me because I smell of radiation and wrong. No, that's not being shared, thank you.
"Well. I know how to avoid them, so. And once you get to the fort thing, you'll be. You know. Houses. Safe as. ...Probably."
Puppy eyes. Winny is unaware she has them. She's currently making them at Bruce, squirming from foot to foot and hoping that they have somewhere she can wash her shoes.
The next time Bruce actually meets Winny's eyes in between the ducking of his head and general twitch factor he has going on, he definitely notices them. Gulping, he looks over in the direction of the fort, and groans quietly to himself. Darn it, why didn't he just mind his own business?
The minute he thinks that to himself, he blinks, and that starts a mental tirade about what the hell kind of horrible person would just leave a girl on her own in the snow with all the crazy magic crap flying around.
Slumping his shoulders as the haranguing continues (but it's shuffled off into the background noise of his brain, because focus, Banner), he shakes his head again. "No, not, I mean. Not all that far."
He starts walking, then stops, glancing back at Winny. "...Uh, nothing, you know. Personal, but. Maybe it's better that, you just, um. Stay over there with the whole. Following thing. Reasonable distance or something."
She yanks back suddenly from where she was following him, tripping and almost falling an apologizing the entire time.
"Sorry, I wasn't... I didn't mean to- I wasn't going to touch you I swear." Because that's the only reason she can think of that he might want distance. Unless he just doesn't like people close to him and she's acting like a freak again. "I mean. Not that. That would bother you. Unless it does. I just meant, I wasn't... going to try and get into your personal spacebubble."
Bruce flails a bit, dislodging a part of the blanket in doing so. With a quiet blanch, he grabs at it with his still-bandaged hand to tuck back against himself as he grits his teeth to not chatter. "What are y- No, that's n- Wait!"
Once he's sure he's covered up as well as possible, he takes a breath. "I said it wasn't personal, okay, I just. It's not a good idea to get nearer to me than. Is anything necessary, that's all. It's nothing about you, or whatever, so. Sorry. Again. For the confusion and the whole. Thing. There. I figured you wouldn't, but with this sort of thing it's just best to get it out in the air and open and."
A wince because Christ, he's just so ridiculously pathetic.
Winny stares at him with wide, almost-frightened, desperately curious eyes for about ten full seconds before she says anything. The BSAR people said there were others like her. They said she wasn't alone.
"...What." It takes all the courage she has just to get the words out. "What can you do?"
He freezes in his tracks for a good minute before looking back at Winny.
"U-uh, what. I m- ...What? Are you talking about. The... I'm not doing anything, I'm just. ...You know. A guy. That's all." He tries to smile disarmingly, but there's a definite shade of panic to it, and every inch of him is ready to bolt.
She can't possibly know, she's just being cr- It's nothing. You're not blown. It's just a random phrasing that doesn't mean anything. Calm down. Calm.
Winny flinches and waves her arms in a kind of desperate dismissal. "I'm sorry! I just... I thought, maybe... But."
Obviously he's about as eager to talk about... the stuff they can do as she is. Which is to say, not at all. So. Better to pretend there's nothing going on. "I am. Me too. A girl, I mean, not a guy, but just a. One."
But he can't do otherwise. It's just how things are.
At least now when he's out in the woods with snow on the ground, he's got a blanket wrapped around his bare shoulders, and the remains of another one wrapped around each foot as makeshift shoe-sock-things. He'd make a fire, but... That involves having fire-making materials and wood-chopping stuff. Neither of which he's got on him as of right now. ...And his shoe-sock-things are getting pretty soaked through.
All right. This kind of sucks. This is why he stayed in South America long as he did - you didn't get frostbite when you don't have shoes.
In an attempt to keep some kind of warm, he wanders around, figuring the activity is better than sitting. But when he walks in on a young girl doing... Something with the snow, he has to stop and stare.
".......Uh."
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Oh no. Oh no. It's a hobo. That just brings back all kinds of horrible memories and oh no no what if he's one of the ones that remembers her?
"I'm sorry. I didn't. Is this your... place? I wasn't. I didn't mean to um. ...I'll go, if you could just tell me. Which way is it to a road?"
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He huddles in on himself a little, trying to tuck in all the corners the cold air keeps sneaking into. When she asks about the whole going part, he flashes a quick, bitter smile. "If I knew, I'd. You know. Be there instead of here. But." A jerky shrug. "Pretty sure this place doesn't have any kind of infrastructure or anything like that, what with the whol-"
Bruce pauses, mouth hanging open a moment before he shuts it again into a thin line. "...You just woke up here didn't you. So you d-" He'd facepalm right now, but that would involve putting skin outside the blanket and that just ain't happening.
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He's not just a hobo. He's a crazy hobo. Winny takes a slow step back. "I'll just. Go and find someone else who can... point me in the home direction. Right direction. Point me in the right direction. Uniforms and... helpful."
She waves a hand to try and illustrate her half-made point before nodding again and backing away slowly.
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"Sorry, that w- ...Never mind." Shaking his head, he frowns in concern at the young woman. "Look, miss, the thing is, er. I'm. Well, pretty relatively sure about the fact that home isn't in any direction." That comes out a bit sadder than he'd meant it, for reasons of his own that he'd much rather not go into right now. So he shoves it down and ignores it (standard procedure), and gets back on topic. "...Ahem. Anyway, there's."
He pauses to try and figure out his bearings before pointing in a general direction. "I don't know what you'd call it, but there's a whole bunch of people living over in that way? There's this group of buildings or cabins or whatever you want to call it, and they'll. You know. Help you out with the whole. Being here thing. It kind of takes some getting used to, but, you know."
And this whole time Bruce has been edging away himself because... Yeah.
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"Thank you, sorry, no, I mean, I'm sure it's a very nice place and you're all very nice people but I've done this before already where I lived outside and, and all that and it wasn't really... I mean, nothing against people who like it but it's not really my... first choice, and I don't want my foster parents or Social Services to think I ran away because I like where I am now and I don't want them to move me and you didn't need to know that anyway but thank you I'll be. Quiet now. And. Go."
She curtsies, kind of, as best she can in jeans and a button-up shirt, before turning to flee.
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"N-n-n-no, no no no no, that's not." He sighs, shutting his eyes as he tries to figure out how to make these words actually work for once. "Nobody here ran away, they just. Woke up here. Like you. Um, okay? It's not like some camping trip or anything like that, it's just. The only actual place around here for... Well. A really long ways. And, trust me on this, I've been, you know. Looking around for places. Not much else to do with the time, except walking, you know?"
He rubs the back of his neck, wincing at how he knows this sounds. Also the cold. That's also a factor. "And even if you liked where you were, that's. Most definitely not where you are now. It sucks, yeah, but. The options here are kind of staying out here in the snow and possibly getting eaten by something cause. There's a lot of somethings out here, or. Being over there with all those people and the food and the warm and. ...Yeah."
A beat, as he fidgets a bit, debating what he's about to do. "...Er. Okay, I could actually. Show you the whole thing. The fort or whatever it is, and then you can. Figure out what you want to do. But I'm pretty sure that you don't want to stay out here. It's not exactly, you know. Hospitable. Or any of that."
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....
...Did he say eaten.
"Did. Did you. ...Eaten?"
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Not that any of this is his fault, but... It's a reflex. He can't help the apology.
Another wince. "Er... I did, at that. With the. I mean, there's just a general bunch of stuff out here that you don't want to run into on your own, or. ...Ever. But!" He says that last bit trying to calm her down before any crazy can happen as a result - not that it wouldn't be warranted, but he wouldn't know how to deal with that. And so he'd rather not. "But, you know. Uh. They-"
They avoid me because I smell of radiation and wrong. No, that's not being shared, thank you.
"Well. I know how to avoid them, so. And once you get to the fort thing, you'll be. You know. Houses. Safe as. ...Probably."
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"How... Is it... How far is it?"
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The minute he thinks that to himself, he blinks, and that starts a mental tirade about what the hell kind of horrible person would just leave a girl on her own in the snow with all the crazy magic crap flying around.
Slumping his shoulders as the haranguing continues (but it's shuffled off into the background noise of his brain, because focus, Banner), he shakes his head again. "No, not, I mean. Not all that far."
He starts walking, then stops, glancing back at Winny. "...Uh, nothing, you know. Personal, but. Maybe it's better that, you just, um. Stay over there with the whole. Following thing. Reasonable distance or something."
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"Sorry, I wasn't... I didn't mean to- I wasn't going to touch you I swear." Because that's the only reason she can think of that he might want distance. Unless he just doesn't like people close to him and she's acting like a freak again. "I mean. Not that. That would bother you. Unless it does. I just meant, I wasn't... going to try and get into your personal spacebubble."
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Once he's sure he's covered up as well as possible, he takes a breath. "I said it wasn't personal, okay, I just. It's not a good idea to get nearer to me than. Is anything necessary, that's all. It's nothing about you, or whatever, so. Sorry. Again. For the confusion and the whole. Thing. There. I figured you wouldn't, but with this sort of thing it's just best to get it out in the air and open and."
A wince because Christ, he's just so ridiculously pathetic.
"Sorry."
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"...What." It takes all the courage she has just to get the words out. "What can you do?"
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"U-uh, what. I m- ...What? Are you talking about. The... I'm not doing anything, I'm just. ...You know. A guy. That's all." He tries to smile disarmingly, but there's a definite shade of panic to it, and every inch of him is ready to bolt.
She can't possibly know, she's just being cr- It's nothing. You're not blown. It's just a random phrasing that doesn't mean anything. Calm down. Calm.
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Obviously he's about as eager to talk about... the stuff they can do as she is. Which is to say, not at all. So. Better to pretend there's nothing going on. "I am. Me too. A girl, I mean, not a guy, but just a. One."
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