omar | 10: Video/Spam: Man, ain't no closure.

[Video]

[It's hard, if not impossible, to tell where Omar is broadcasting from: the only thing in sight is the wall behind him, plain and unadorned and identical to those lining the halls. If anyone happens to be on level seven, they will in fact see him sitting comfortably against the wall nearest the stern common room.]

I been told that I took a wrong turn 'bout two year ago and wound up in that port back there instead of where I meant to be, so I figured a reintroduction might be in order. I'll keep it simple this time -- nothing fancy:

I'm Omar Little. Some of you know me, some of you don't...

[He grins.]

Most of y'all will soon enough.

[Open Spam]

[One of the things that most bothers Omar about the change is finding out how completely the neighborhood, so to speak, has changed. He can live with losing most of his friends and allies, but he really doesn't like not knowing who's taken their place.

The upshot is that pretty much as soon as the port ends he can be found roaming the halls at all hours, just about everywhere he has access to or can get into. He seems casual about it, just out for a stroll here or a late-night snack there, but the particularly observant might note that he's being particularly observant. Every so often, he even takes out a little scratchpad and writes down a note, especially when he sees someone enter or leave a cabin.]

[Spam for Loki]

[And there is one person that he's particularly interested in catching. He didn't want to talk on the phone -- he never wants to talk on the phone -- but he slides into step with him out of nowhere one afternoon, voice low.]

You may not know me, but I surely do know you, Trickster.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Venus steps out of her cabin on level 2 with the intention of dropping in on a few friends, just to check in, see how they were doing. She spots Omar strolling along the hall and smiles. She'd only had a brief conversation with him during that horrible port but she'd taken an almost instant liking to him.

She lifts her hand in a small wave.] Hello, Mr. Little. Are you settling back in all right?

[2-1, he notes, filling in another little box on his mental map. He'll add it to the new manifest later. Right now, he just nods in greeting and offers a genteel smile in return.]

More or less, Warden. More or less. Don't suppose you know where a newly-free agent like myself could pick up a pack of Marlboro, though?

Please, call me Venus. Warden sounds so...intimidating.

[She shakes her head, somewhat regretfully.] I'm afraid I don't. There's a number of smokers on board, though, so someone's got to have a stash somewhere.

Oh, I'm sure all kinds of people got all kinds of stashes somewhere.

[She simply grins. The barge is...well, it's a prison and like most prisons she knows (said knowledge being second-hand mind you), there does seem to be a brisk business in certain items.]

You would not be wrong about that, but then you've been here before so quite possibly you know more about the nature and number of such stashes than I do.

If I did before, can't say as I do now. Neighborhood gone and changed on me over the last two years.

That must be very disconcerting, almost worse than going someplace completely new where you don't expect things to be a certain way. Still, I imagine there are some things that remain familiar. [Like, possibly, the semi-regular outbreaks of chaos and insanity.]

Like what, you think?

Well, the boat itself is the same. [...isn't it?] And I don't imagine the Admiral changes much, at least not from what I've heard.

It ain't, actually. Whole mess of stuff different from the way it was before.

Really? [Truly, she should not be surprised and yet she is. Nothing on this boat makes any sense.] May I ask how it's different?

Belowdecks stay pretty much the same, but there used to be all other type of other things above. Warden stuff.

[Which hadn't at all stopped him from going in there, but.]

[She sighs.] One of these days I'll actually get the hang of this place. [But don't anyone hold their breath.]

So I guess the question is--is it better or worse the second time around? I know another inmate who left for a while but not as long as you did, not long enough for anything significant to change. [Depending on your definition of significant.]

Don't know that I been back long enough to say.

[He frowns a little. So far, he misses the old Barge, but he doesn't know if that's a real difference or just nostalgia, or that he'd been starting to develop a little pack of compatriots who are now all gone. He even misses his warden, as ineffectual as she'd been.

Plus, Jason Todd left with his crossbow, and that's just a crying shame.]

Not in any scientifical way, anyhow.

I've never been big on the scientific method anyway. I generally go with what my heart tells me. [Making decisions based on a gut feeling might not be the smartest way but so far it's worked for her. Most of the time anyway, enough times that she's rarely had any serious reason to regret it.]

You told me you're a man who knows how to roll with the punches so I imagine you'll find your place no matter whether it's better or worse.

Must do, right?

[Something in him pulls up a little short at that; his voice doesn't exactly grow colder, but more pointed, maybe. He likes Venus so far, but let her not forget -- let her learn -- who he is.]

We sharks up in here, we inmates, just the same as down below. We move or we die. Now that I'm on my feet again I don't intend to stop moving.

[Venus' eyes widen ever so slightly, but she's been around dangerous men enough to know better than to corner them.]

Well, I can't speak to the inmate experience down below from personal experience, [Though she's heard more than a few stories second-hand. It sort of comes with the territory when you spend time with ex-cons.] but I don't really see the waters here as being quite so deep or dangerous. Then again, I do come at it from a different perspective so perhaps that's not surprising.

[He squints at her, a little disbelieving.]

I'd say either you most surely do, or things been real quiet up here since my departure.

[She shrugs. She will almost always opt for the more positive possibility but she's not blind to what is often a less pleasant reality.]

I'm not sure I can say for certain which is the case. Perhaps a little bit of both?

10: Video/Spam: Man, ain't no closure.

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