Now with 20% more mechanical grunge!

[birdsbirdsbirds]

Who: Bloodsport Crew, ASSEMBLE.
Broadcast: Maybe??
Action: The ship (or on a station I'm not picky)
When: After all that Marsiva nonsense

[GOOD MORNING, EVERYONE. instead of waking up in the cold, super-sterilized rooms of the Marsiva, you come to back in your very own room on the Bloodsport! some of you have never met each other, and a few of you have never even stepped foot on the ship before... but it's never too late to explore and greet your neighbors!

and in case anyone was wondering, yes, there are still a dozen fishbowls scattered around the ship. the glowing fish inside them seem perfectly fine. you may all rest easy, or wonder why the hell there are so many fish on this ship in the first place.]

Comments

[birdsbirdsbirds]

Oh.

[he looks up, finally, between her and the bag of chocolates she's brought.]

Of course I'll eat it. I wasn't kidding. I'm going to eat the whole damn bag.

[he can tell she's discomforted by everything he's saying, and he feels bad... so maybe that's why he reaches out a little, holding out his hand like he's offering to let her take it.]

You can hide out in my room, if you want. Take a nap or something. There isn't even anything weird in there right now--

[he stops. the synapses fire. he takes back that hand so that he can press it to the lower half of his face in sudden realization.]

Oh, I lied. There's blood all over the walls. [...whaaat is he going to do about that.] Fuck.

[versusnurture]

[She almost does take his hand, but then . . . well, she's giggling. She has to giggle. He's so cute. He thinks that would bother her!]

That's what I'll do, then. I'll clean it up.

Is it yours or somebody else's?

[Look at all this lack of judgment.]

[birdsbirdsbirds]

[he sighs, but it's definitely out of relief. he's finally sinking into a mindset that's relaxed and animated, even if it's to run his hand over his face. he can't believe he forgot, he was so preoccupied with everything else...]

Oh, it's mine. I know it'll look like a bunch of evil, cultist bullshit, but it's actually just notes for a binding spell. Which-- [he waves his hand.] --I will be happy to explain later.

[versusnurture]

Oh.

[She perks up! A lot.]

Will you teach me how to do it?

[birdsbirdsbirds]

[he stops all of his gesturing, feeling stupid, and slouching in a second--just so that he can fix her with a surprisingly skeptical look and accompanying raise of the eyebrow.]

You'll punch your soul out your eye sockets.

[which... isn't a "no", but it's not looking like a solid "yes", either.]

[versusnurture]

Aww . . .

[Come on, bro. Look at this face. Don't you want to teach her the thing? Come on. Come onnnn.]

[birdsbirdsbirds]

[he should not teach her the thing. he's not sure it's even possible for him to teach her the thing.]

I'm not kidding. The notes are there to keep me from punching my soul out.

[...that face, though. he slumps his shoulders, reaching over to fidget open the gifted bag of chocolates.]

But I might be able to think of something less dangerous.

[versusnurture]

[GASP. She kicks her feet again, kick kick kick, and crosses her arms tight to keep herself from reaching out to hug him. She can definitely get him to teach her the thing, wow, for a weird godthing he is such a pushover.]

Yay! Okay. Cool. Then . . . I'll get out of your hair. So you can do all of the captainly things. Right?

[birdsbirdsbirds]

[he is most definitely a pushover. but he thinks it's cute when she's happy (this already reminds him of what it was like back in the dream-room), and he may be feeling especially lonely right now... a little part of him would love to talk about magic with someone. he never gets the opportunity, since he usually keeps it such a secret.]

Absolutely. As captainly as I can muster.

[...and after a second, he stands up so that he can lean over and give her a hug. he meant to do this earlier, when he only found the bravery to offer his hand--and then he got distracted, and here they are now, as he feels like he might actually be okay for the next couple of hours.]

[versusnurture]

[Oh.]

[Double yay.]

[It's weird, because . . . she hasn't really had a chance to do much of this since she got here. Or since she left the Barge, really, so it's been . . . more than a year. The last person she really hugged was Elena.]

[So it takes her a second to respond, but when she does, it's a tight hug and it comes with gratitude. She buries her face in his shoulder and is - a little surprised, because tears sting her eyes a little, and they're happy but still strange. She just - missed people. A lot. Even if he isn't totally, one hundred percent people, exactly.]

[birdsbirdsbirds]

[hugging isn't really his thing. the few hugs he received as a child were always coupled with anxiety or frustration. it took him a while to get used to Finch, the little ones, and then the rest of his siblings giving him hugs... but then they all died, and the gesture always left a bad taste in his mouth after that.

because people always seemed to disappear, after he gets to hugging them. maybe it's mostly subconscious, but even here it scares him just a little bit.

but he's missed people too, in a way, like his friends and his crew. he's missed feeling appreciated, missed having anyone who'd come looking for him. so he puts a hand gently on the back of her head while she's buried at his shoulder, and squeezes back just as gratefully, and waits just a little bit longer than he has to, because this is important for both of them.]

Your friend was right. That exceptional part of you is... pretty obvious, to me.

[versusnurture]

You're sweet.

[It comes out muffled, but that doesn't really matter. She doesn't need to be articulate right now, just like he doesn't need to be clever. Sometimes it's okay to just - be yourself, even if just for a minute.]

[He's never getting rid of her now.]

[She tucks her chin up on his shoulder and looks past him at the wall.]

Stupid, but sweet.

[birdsbirdsbirds]

Hey, hey. Don't push it.

[he tries to sound annoyed, but it doesn't quite go all the way... still, he finally lets go of her and leans away again. he's starting to get self-conscious, and he should really quit while he's ahead.]

Third door on the left.

[versusnurture]

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