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After the Storm

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Pterano:
((RP between Aabicus and myself!))

It's a godawful small affair...

As the strains of the song drifted through the beach front bar, Tony Stracci sat at the countertop, nursing a Seabreeze. The drink wouldn't be enough to knock him on his ass, but if he had a few more...

He wasn't planning on having a few more.

But the film is a saddening bore,
for she's lived it ten times or more...

Looking out to the crashing waves on the ocean, the white sandy beach stretched endlessly before him in either direction, looking like a never-ending ribbon as it twisted its way along the coast. Somewhere in the parking lot, one of his vintage cars was parked, drawing a small crowd that snapped photos of it and stood next to it for selfies and Instagram posts and whatever. This brought a slight smirk to the ferret's features as he watched the eager onlookers.

Tapping his claws against his sweating glass, he took another swig, then pulled out his phone.

It's on America's tortured brow
Mickey Mouse has grown up a cow...

Tapping his claws over the screen, he began texting Emilena Echo. He asked her to meet him here, having a few things to discuss in the aftermath of their saving the world, defeating Kalis, and becoming heroes. His flat cap was pulled a bit lower over his forehead, his vest, shirt, pants and shoes completing the look.

It's about to be writ again
as I ask her to focus on...
Sailors fighting in the dance hall
Oh man, look at those cavemen go
It's the freakiest show
Take a look at the lawman beating up the wrong guy
Oh man! Wonder if he'll ever know...
He's in the bestselling show!

As Tony listened to the strains of the song, he closed his eyes, enjoying the ocean breeze that came in from the relatively open air bar, the building lacking walls, and really only having a roof and floor. Sometimes... life was worth it...

aabicus (LettuceBacon&Tomato):
"..the thing about situations like that, Henri, is that you don't have time to think." Emilena forced the smile her public relations coach assured was making her more likable. "You just react, and do everything you can to stay alive. I only did what anyone would have done to survive."

"Now, you may say that, Emilena..." the talk show host laughed even though Emilena didn't find anything funny about their conversation, "...but you were practically the sole survivor. In fact, you're the only living individual confirmed to have been in the room when Vergil Speicher ended Rex's reign of terror and saved the planet."

"Well, wait, that's not true, there's Mr. Stracci and...oh." Emilena trailed off, realizing the interviewer was baiting her into revealing more about that climactic final battle. "You know I'm not allowed to talk about any of that, right?" she sighed.

"Of course, of course," Henri brushed off the notion with another fake laugh. "'Confidential incidents.' You've mentioned that you fully endorse the official story, and who are we to question the government?" The studio audience laughed as he turned to them expectedly for support. "I mean, when have they ever lied to us, right?"

"You calling me a liar?" Emilena growled, suddenly balling her fists. The laughter quickly died and the room grew awkwardly silent. She took a deep breath, closed her eyes and counted down until her blood cooled. "Sorry. It's just that...a lot of people died during those confidential incidents. People I was very close to." She opened her eyes to stop the faces flashing across her vision. "Some died in front of me. Some we found the body afterward. And the remainder have gone completely missing. I know these are celebratory times for all you, but for me it involved losing almost everyone I've ever known. So, if you'd kindly stick to the topics we agreed upon when scheduling this interview..."

"Okay, okay," the host laughed again. "Pinkie promise. And make no mistake, we are all incredibly thankful for your sacrifices. But you gotta admit," his eyes glinted jokingly, "it helps at least a little to become filthy rich. I know I'd be buying another solid gold humvee if I were in your shoes!"

Emilena sighed and turned the television off as her on-screen counterpart decked the talk show host across the face. She was in her umpteenth six-star hotel; each was more expensive than everywhere she'd ever lived combined, but her bank account had so many digits she didn't see a reason to bother buying a permanent place to live. In fact, she felt more comfortable knowing that nobody could ever pin down her location. Not to mention, the one time she'd tried buying her own building she'd spent the whole night jumping at every little rustle of wind or creak in the woodwork. Even here, her ears twitched and she winced when anyone walked past her hotel room door. Get a grip, Emilena... she exhaled, rising up from her form-fitted massage couch and wandering to the window.

The setting sun cast vibrant rays over her hotel room, bathing her pale fur and making her look almost as orange as she'd been in her youth. Emilena knew stress could cause premature aging, but even she hadn't thought it was possible for a muzzle to turn grey before 25. Hell, for all she knew it was the Growth Acceleration procedure finally catching up to her. Whatever. She'd never particularly feared her own death, and it seemed even less of an issue now that everyone she'd ever known had already passed to the other side.

She glanced at the ornate desk, the main piece of furniture that had sold her on this room. She'd always wanted a big fancy desk, from her first day as a junior police officer in the long-destroyed city of Lanthae, but now she had nothing to do with it. No cases...no job...no need to even balance her expenses. No reason to live.

Thock. Someone lightly rapped against her hotel room door, causing her to grab a letter-opener off the couchside cabinet and leap to a defensive angle before her brain caught up with her reflexes. "Who...who is it?" she asked.

"Message for you, Ms. Echo," a stuffy British voice informed, and a laminated envelope slipped under the door. Emilena had all her calls cleared through the front desk, and the list of approved numbers was incredibly short. Waiting until the footsteps had faded down the hallway, Emilena inched forward and sliced open the note to read that Tony Stracci was inviting her to drink at a local bar.

She couldn't help but smile. I guess not everyone's dead and gone. Seeing a friendly face might stave off the melancholy thoughts for at least a while.

---------------------------

Fifteen minutes later, she walked through the back door of the bar, bundled up with the same sort of heavy coat and sunglasses getup she used to give members of witness protection programs. "Please keep the press out," she said under her voice to the bartender, slipping $500 on the counter, "and get me a Blue Cherry with ice."

She finally relaxed once she was next to Tony at the bar. "You seem to be taking to the celebrity life well," she teased, glancing at the crowds admiring his car. Thankfully, they hadn't noticed her yet. "It's nice to see you again."

Pterano:
As a familiar vulpine entered the bar from the back door (of which Tony had a good view of), the ferret smiled. He didn't wave her over though, and let her find him herself, as it was clear she was trying to avoid attention. "Heh, well... at least I'm a fairly nondescript ferret... they don't tend to notice me too often. I threw them off by dressing in normal clothes during all my televised interviews." he chuckled. "And as for my car..." he hooked a thumb behind him to it. "It was fortunately fairly quiet when I pulled in, and now I think it's just drawing crowds on the fact it's a rarity these days, and all those beachgoers coming up from the beach are taking note." he chuckled again.

"I don't mind though... they're welcome to those photos. How are you, Emilena?" he asked softly, offering her his paw under the bar. "It's good to see you again."

aabicus (LettuceBacon&Tomato):
"You need to teach me how to do televised interviews," Emilena groaned. "I haven't managed to get through one without making an ass of myself." She regarded her friend, the only link to a time that otherwise seemed erased by the modern world. "You look completely like I remember...I can't fathom how you do it." She winced when she sat down in her seat; her lifetime of various injuries were finally catching up to her. "Kafke Dermanetics offered me a full-body reconstructive process. All scars removed, muscles and skin tightened, these missing chunks in my ear and tail could be regrown...but I don't know. You look at their showcase customers and there's something...uncanny about how perfect they look." She shuddered.

The bartender handed her a cup of light blue nonalcoholic beer, and she made sure to only take baby sips. The last thing she wanted was to start hiccupping uncontrollably. "So that's the big decision in my future. Not much else to do, or worry about when you're rich and famous."  She handed over her credit card for the tab and glanced back at Tony. "What about you? Doing anything to keep yourself busy, or just enjoying the ride?"

Pterano:
"Hah well... they're harder than they look, for sure. I just tried to throw off everyone by dressing differently... not hinting that I dress from a bygone era." he shook his head, taking another sip. "Oh, me? Eh... well between those assholes doing something to rebuild my body and dropping me in that Duesenberg to now... eh... I've had some treatments here and there... the worst of it was covered when I was "revived" after my fall off the Death Road." he informed her. "I still have no idea what they did to me." he confessed. "Something along the lines of... what you stated. Reconstruction. Revival... I don't know." he shrugged. "I got an extremely rare car out of it, so I can't complain too much." he grinned. "I still keep some scars though... the worst and what remained from our final battle I had removed though... but yeah under my clothes... there's some stuff there." he told her softly.

"I am..." he paused, looking out to the ocean once more. "Enjoying life, I guess you could say. I take my cars out on nice days, just to drive, you know? Head down the coastal areas, or just through some of the parks. It helps me think and well... relax. Other times I just go swimming or... whatever. I try to keep a low profile and enjoy my life for what it's worth... as I know it very easily could've gone the other way... and I'm damn lucky to be alive." he told her, looking right at her. "So yeah... I don't waste it." he nodded. "I savor every moment I have, if I can."

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