( ARCHIVED )

[shrinkage]

( the inbox has been relocated HERE! it's been a moving experience. )

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[shrinkage]

[ it's actually kind of a really good look ngl ]

Are you kidding? You're a legend. [ hang on. ] But you already knew that, didn't you?

[taer]

Magic. [ if she sounds skeptical, well. her experiences with magic haven't always been great. ] Got any ideas?

[ none of them know magic, unless ray's learned some new skills in his time here. which means they need someone they can trust. ]

[shrinkage]

Maybe go lurk around the magic studies room? I know there are some pretty powerful mages that live here, but I've never had reason to seek them out.

[wildwest]

I wouldn't go so far as to say I was a "legend," given how inaccurate those legends tend to be.

[ how often did he have to correct the citizens of purgatory on their "knowledge" of wyatt earp? too often. ]

[taer]

All right. It's worth a shot.

( text | during zombietown )

[waverides]

Doctor Palmer. It appears that "non-organic beings" are of low interest to the zombies.

[shrinkage]

What? But you're so obviously-- [ his hands flit about, losing words (bravo) to fit the situation. ] --Doc. Gunslinging and smooth and poker faced. So poker faced...

[ ray, no. stop trying to build your box around this man. he is not here to be a statue for you to ogle in awe. (though ogling is sort of still happening. sigh.) ]

[shrinkage]

that's good, right? that means you're safe?

[waverides]

They don't have a human-looking body.

[shrinkage]

please tell me you're inside and not in trouble right now

[waverides]

I am. Though if their ignorance of me was still true it could provide us with an advantage.

[wildwest]

[ pffft. raymond, p l e a s e. but it's fine. the ogling doesn't seem to bother doc in the slightest. in fact, his only response to the intense scrutiny of his person is to pull a cigarette out of his pocket and light it. what? eternal health. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

he takes in a drag, blows it back out, shrugs. ] I am a professional card sharp.

[shrinkage]

no it's not worth the risk. stay inside and just play it cool, ok?

[waverides]

I don't recall that being advice that you've often taken.

[shrinkage]

that's different.

[waverides]

I don't believe so. In fact I believe our motivations are quite similar.

[shrinkage]

no offense, but i highly doubt that.

[shrinkage]

[ he does his best to not cough, and he starts to point out that smoking is sort of not great-- but it doesn't take him long before giving up. ]

And an actual Marshall! Right? So, I mean, it seems like the books got it mostly right.

[ ever the idealist. also, ever arrogant: ]

You know, I was Sherriff in an Old West town for awhile.

[wildwest]

[ go on, lecture him. he will happily inform you of his inability to die once more. and yeah, maybe he shouldn't have been smoking back in the day when he actually had terminal tuberculosis, because that certainly... hadn't... helped matters... but there were many things the 1880s were unaware of. ]

Unfortunately, [ he says with tangible reluctance weighting down his voice. doc didn't ask to be black badge, but black badge didn't give a fuck about what he wanted. what any of them wanted. ] But that's more of a recent development. The deputyship that history records was a temporary affair in a time of need, something I immediately surrendered once it was no longer necessary to hold.

[ doc eyes him. ] Were you, now?

[shrinkage]

[ the ego makes his smile turn smug, and ray actually rocks back on his heels, threading his thumbs through his belt loops. ]

Ayup. [ ray. ] Cleared Salvation all outta riff raff. I couldn't stick around, either. [ ray pls. ] You know how it i--

[ aaand there's the coughing. doesn't seem likely to stop any time soon... ]

[wildwest]

Salvation. [ doc follows that up with a half-snort, half-chuckle. (dude, you live in a town called purgatory. don't throw stones.)

he drops the cigarette, pressing it into the dirt with his heel. better, ray? ] I do know how it is, though likely for very different reasons. Unless you were dyin' of something you're not showin' signs of or spent some quality time at the bottom of a well.

[shrinkage]

[ he misunderstands, as happens when a person wants to apply their image of another person onto them. and only half listens because he's a jackass. but ray does express his sympathies with a grimace. ]

Oh, right yeah. I guess that would put a damper on the whole deputy thrill, huh?

[wildwest]

Thrill? [ misunderstanding indeed. ] You modern folk seem to have this collective misconception that we wanted to be deputies. I was a dentist, and Wyatt— [ yes, wyatt earp is now a factor of this conversation. ] Wyatt wanted to be farmer, settle down somewhere and start a family for himself. But life doesn't always let you decide what you want to be or where you'll go. Now, Morgan and Virgil? They were the lawmen. The rest of us were just along for the ride. Not sure what we stepped into the O.K. Corral as, but we emerged gunslingers regardless of whether we wanted to or not.

[waverides]

Then you didn't risk yourself in aide or protection of your team?

[shrinkage]

[ that sharpens ray's focus from eager superfan to concerned citizen face. ]

Oh, I-- [ but he realizes quickly that doc's got some stuff to get off his chest, and uh yeah. ray can see that he fully deserves that and more. his smile doesn't disappear but it turns lopsided in guilt. ] Sorry, you're right. I get swept up in the romance of it all, but it seems like a lot of people who got into the work didn't exactly do so willingly.

[ even ray, who sought out the ability to help people, didn't just wake up one day wanting to build a technosuit to fly around in. it's not fair, and maybe it's overstepping his bounds, but ray tries again: ]

But stories about you and Wyatt Earp, you know, they inspire other people who fall into the life. Who have to make due with imperfect circumstances.