Zelda had been on the island long enough to know that people appeared and disappeared at random. She'd not yet had to experience loss, but she had experienced arrival and as disorienting as it was for her at least she had some solace in knowing that the island was a better place. She didn't know if others got such a sense of peace and tranquility.
This man appeared to be new, if his incredulous words meant anything, and Zelda tilted her head slightly as she appraised him.
"I suppose that last you checked you weren't marooned on an island?"
It's automatic; his gun comes up and, for a moment, he just stands there before his brain clicks back into place. Kitchen; nowhere near the cabin out near Bulletville. No broken glass. No bullet-holes. No sign of Ava or Boyd. Raylan drops his weapon, but he doesn't thumb the safety, not just yet.
Zelda bit her lip lightly, trying to decide how best to explain. Some people believed in magic, after all, and some did not. She didn't know where this man fell on that particular spectrum and upsetting someone on arrival was far from what she wanted to do.
"It may be a bit hard to believe, but this is an island in the midst of a sea that nobody in my experience is actually familiar with. People appear and disappear at random, I've found no pattern to it, but otherwise it is a relatively safe place to live."
That explained, she blew out a slow breath. "And I'm Zelda."
None of this makes any fucking sense. It's been a long twenty four hours. In the last twenty four, he's been shot out, sold out, he's put a bullet in Arlo and he's narrowly avoided taking a bullet himself and now...what? Some kind of psychotic break? Heaven?
He shakes his head.
"Okay, Zelda," he says, taking the decision to slide his gun back into his holster. "You're going to have run that past me again. Slower."
Zelda smiled patiently. "All right. I can imagine, before you came here, you were somewhere else. If your experience was anything like mine, it was a situation of great peril and no small emotional toll. Am I correct?"
He's pretty sure that at least he wasn't walking away from that cabin. If he could get Ava out, and Boyd with her, he was going to chalk it up to a good day. And all of this coming down from shooting Tommy Zips.
"Well, the island, unlike the moment you came from, seems to be a safe haven and paradise," Zelda said, tapping her lips as she thought. "Of course, there's the part where I haven't exactly found a way to go home, but other than that, relatively calm."
Two things that Raylan's not sure he's ever believed in: safety and the possibility of Heaven. He's got no reason to think that Zelda's lying to him, and his own senses do appear to be back up the evidence. He shifts his weight.
Now, Raylan Given's has ended up in a trap (or nearly in a trap) more times than he'd like and more recently than he'd like as well. He shrugs his shoulders and tries to force himself to relax.
"I think I might need to sit down for a second, if that's okay," says Raylan, looking around, taking in the kitchen. His hand comes up to nudge his hat back on his head, automatic, and then he realies that he's not wearing it. His mouth purses for a second.
"Tea?" A smile tugs at the corner of Raylan's mouth and he looks up at her. "Unless it comes with ice in it, tea's really not my thing, but thankyou." Right then, he'd give anything for a shot of Bourbon, Kentucky or otherwise.
He walks around the table and slides into a chair.
"Understandably so," Zelda said, sort of at loose ends. "I accepted my arrival with a bit more...well, I'm fairly certain I was dead, and this is preferable to that."
"I'm not entirely sure that I'm not dead," admits Raylan, passing one hand back over his hair, smoothing it off his forehead. "Everything was kinda goin' south."
This man appeared to be new, if his incredulous words meant anything, and Zelda tilted her head slightly as she appraised him.
"I suppose that last you checked you weren't marooned on an island?"
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He stares at her for a long moment.
"...No?"
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"It may be a bit hard to believe, but this is an island in the midst of a sea that nobody in my experience is actually familiar with. People appear and disappear at random, I've found no pattern to it, but otherwise it is a relatively safe place to live."
That explained, she blew out a slow breath. "And I'm Zelda."
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He shakes his head.
"Okay, Zelda," he says, taking the decision to slide his gun back into his holster. "You're going to have run that past me again. Slower."
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He wishes he regretted it.
"Yes, Ma'am," he says, with a curt nod.
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"And there's no way back?"
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"I get a welcome pack or somethin', Zelda?"
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"Yeah. I definitely need to sit down."
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He walks around the table and slides into a chair.
"This is...all a little weird."
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