driftfleet | (no subject)

Entry tags:

(no subject)

Who: Tekhetsio
Broadcast: Network | Open
Action: SS Pathstone
When: November 15

[he doesn't turn the video feed on because he looks like shit. he can't even keep his mask properly in place, so the rest of the Fleet does not need to see him looking so inhuman and a little cadaverous. the fact that he can't even hide from his crew is bad enough.]

...This is getting absurd.

[his voice is sharp and quite stressed. he has completely run out of patience.]

Has no one come up with an answer for this thing yet? Honestly? ...Isn't anyone the least bit concerned with how... ugh...

[and his voice then trails off as he backs a step away from the receiver.

the entire fleet is then treated to the distinct sound of sickened retching... followed by a few clatters... and something small, wet, and heavy hitting the floor.

anyone aboard the SS Pathstone and happening by the network station that Tek is using will have it a little worse, however. he has puked up a little bit of a mess--mostly consisting of oily black liquid, a couple of half-digested coins... and a shiny red gem.

oops.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[yeah, he's beginning to regret his own curiosity, there. it's probably what prompts him to answer in the way that he does.]

The network station down the hall can verify if you're really so curious.

[which he means AS A JOKE. even though it's true--the mess is still there if she really wants to go look.]

I will! [So brightly that it's obvious that it's really going to happen.]

Mind opening your mouth? Are you a pure carnivore or do you eat plant foods too?

[well, that didn't go precisely as planned. so, he'll just... gently push back on her shoulder until she's in her own space again. and then he'll oblige by making a face at her--lolling his forked tongue out for her to see.

his tongue is as black as his blood, and his gums are nearly-so. his teeth had simply been sharp before, when his mask was failing but he was still speaking. neat and uniform little edges, maybe something like a piranha. but now that he's got no mask to speak of at all and has apparently resigned himself to showing it all off, his teeth are longer, thinner, like horrible and uneven needles. this counts three different forms his teeth have been in by now.]

I can eat anything. But, meat is my favorite.

[Her eyes fasten on his tongue... if Moblit were here, she'd be screaming at him to sketch this. If she had a sketchbook, she'd be scribbling it down furiously herself. As it is she just commits it to memory as much as she possibly can, to draw on whatever papers turn up later.]

My, my... [She let him push her out but leans closer again, not as much as before but still... close. Then the corners of her mouth turn up and she laughs deep in her throat.]

I hope you're not stuffing humans in there.

[okay, so he's slowly warming to the attention. and by warming, it's more like not being hideously paranoid every single second.

it's maybe that laugh that does it.]

Ah... no. I swore off that habit long ago.

[He'd have gone on to the "must kill / ok to vivisect list" if he'd said yes, so for everyone's peace of mind, no is the good answer. She leans back and smiles shinily. There was just an edge of that edgy enthusiasm that put him off so much earlier, but it's quickly tucked back under again since it's not necessary now.]

Glad to hear it! Mind saying ahh, though? [She is fishing out a handy-dandy penlight... not for his eyes, but for the throat.]

[lucky for him it's one of the few sins he has strict feelings about.]

It's something that a few of my associates indulge in, but... I very much disagree with their philosophy.

[just to make sure that she knows it's no longer a temptation for him. he'd like to avoid the vivisect list, thank you.

and he obliges by opening his mouth. it's only human in basic structure in there--all black and deep, bruised purple. he's got more jaw and throat room in there without the glands and complicated bits humans have hanging around that help regulate immunity and breathing and other things he doesn't need so much. there is, however, something different going on with the back of his throat and roof of his mouth along his teeth, where a thin slick of something darker and more substantial than saliva is being secreted.]

[She flashes the light into it and peers with one eye, leaning in close again. The fingers of the hand not holding the light land on his jaw, but that's mostly absentminded coincidence. How nice to not have the subject of this trying to bite her face off as she works.]

That's very interesting... [Her voice just drops when she talks about this, just a bit, a little musical but with some grating edges. It's not her world, or her problem, buuut... she hopes those humans have come up with some ways to totally fuck those people up.

Ha, that forked tongue. She's totally not tabling the reptile idea. Who cares what he says.

More neutrally:] What have you got secreting here?

[the light still makes him squint and blink, his pinprick pupils somehow contracting even more in reaction.

and he leans back and turns his head away when he answers, to try and preserve some space of his own to speak in.]

...I suppose the best way to describe it is... a vehicle for venom?

[monster drool.]

Fascinating... [Man she wants a sample. Damping the penlight a little, turning it away from him to let him be more comfortable] Is it venomous now? To others, I mean.

[ha, okay. he smiles. because even he finds his own powers pretty cool.]

It can be.

[wanna see?]

[Kind of. Maybe not on her. She is kind of moving to stick a finger in his mouth though.]

Do you mind if I...

[yes. he does mind.]

--Ah. [he goes to politely catch her hand before it gets too close.] You don't want to do that.

[he's not keen on her sticking anything in his mouth, so he instead leans a little to the side... and spits on the metal floor near the both of them.

just a little splatter of black that looks much like his blood, but inkier and more viscous. and after a second or two, there's a tiny hiss of steam where the acid is beginning to sizzle. if she wants a sample, there it is. at least she won't have to worry about many contaminants with how caustic it seems.]

[WHEEZES and now she's pulling away from him and scrambling a little MUST PRESERVE THAT SAMPLE SOMEHOW oWo TODAY IS A GOOD DAY]

[haaaahaha... he shouldn't be getting this much petty glee out of this. since when did this turn kind of fun?

watching her scramble makes him giggle a little bit.

and if she's got a little glass vial or something, she can totally scoop that shit into there. it won't hurt glass or plastic at all.]

[She can ignore the giggling since she's getting just what she wanted. Good, good, very excellent. She digs out a glass vial from somewhere and nudges it all together with the lid... yes yes got it. Then leans towards his face again. Oops, now she's excited.]

My, my! How nasty. You must have some serious digestive action going on in there.

[he minds the excitement a little less, now. it's almost tolerable.]

Well, I meant it when I said I could eat anything.

I sincerely hope those humans were dead before they hit your stomach. [Just a hint of that grate in her voice again - but if he's sworn it off, and assuming he's being honest, better to move on from it for now.

Anyway her energy smooths out again fast. She's in science mode, poking around and getting the job done, and it's actually pretty easy not to get overeager since he's letting her poke and also actually a sentient creature. Penlight coming back though.]

Mind letting me take a look in your ear?

[he doesn't really want to dwell on the topic either, so he's glad for the change in topic. even if the topic isn't one he'd particularly thrilled about either.

light isn't anywhere near his eyes and he's already squinting preemptively, as soon as she brings out the penlight. it's kind of a grimace.]

What? Why?

I'll try not to flash you. [And there is an element of kindness in her voice, though it's not soppy.] I'm just curious if you have structural differences there too.

You're not going to stick anything in my ear, are you?

Not for keeps? Because there might be something in there a little bit. Only outer ear though.

[Today in conversations that could be easily misconstrued.]

Can't we just say that it's probably exactly the same and leave it at that?

Please?

[ugh. he groans...

but he turns his head a little.]

Edited 2014-11-20 15:42 (UTC)