driftfleet | (no subject)

[She looks up from the fox she's showing all the attention to and looks curiously at Wrath wondering if everything is okay.]

Do anything fun at the masquerade? [Transitions? Who needs transitions?]

[ oh god, did he break her? apologetic look is on.

coming off of hanging out with hank at the masquerade and chatting with cisco on the network may have distorted his perspective of how interesting these things are to people.

this is why he belongs locked away in an office, where he can't hurt anyone's brain. ]

Oh, it was great! Winter danced with me, which really surprised me, he's such a sweetie. And a guy named Jim danced with me too, really carefully, so it was okay. And Charles taught me how to play chess! It wasn't as hard as it always looks on the vids.

That's great. I think I know all of them actually. Jim Kirk? He's on the Tourist with Winn. And I have a chess board in my room if you ever want to play or borrow it.

[ what he wouldn't give to have kitty's magical-transition abilities. ]

Jim's good people.

[ he nods, feeling awkward because he's really not the sort of person who says good people. but it sure beats jim threatens my masculinity! ]

I think so? Oh, good. He was really nice. So maybe I'll get to see him again!

I think I'd like to try more chess. I was bad at it, but practice is important.

Maybe. He's from a world similar to Beverly's too if it didn't come up. He's just in the past and also a slightly different version of it. I knew someone from his world back in the prison. One of my best friends. Well, both their worlds actually.

Practice helps a lot.

[ so many things he'd like to ask - who's beverly, who's kitty's friend from jim's world, how many people does she know who exist in several worlds besides the x-men? but that's a portal for another nerdy spiral and those are best avoided for the time being. ]

It's pretty much the most helpful way to improve I've ever found.

It didn't come up, but that's good to know! Very cool. They seem to come from a really good place.

Yeah, I thought chess was a smart person thing, but I think I can do it. Charles was really nice.

They do. I was invited there once upon a time. [Glancing at Winn.]

Chess is just a game. Anyone can play. [And should she be telling Wrath she's smart? That seems awkward, but this is a little awkward too.] It's more strategy I'd think a military commander might be especially good at it. [Unless she mostly followed orders from above.]

[ he frowns slightly at that, and bites down on the inside of his mouth, pensive. just because someone else couldn't follow through, doesn't mean that he won't be able to. he can't allow doubt to set in because the moment he allows it a foot hold -- is the moment he'll sink into horrible and crippling depression.

of course he wasn't the first to make that offer - what kind of person wouldn't want to save her life? but he's going to be the last, because he's going to do it.

he tunes out of the conversation, absentmindedly petting officer snuggles as he goes back to his very theoretical very early-staged calculations in his head. ]

Oh? That's really nice of whoever invited you. I wonder how that stuff works.

And that's what Charles said too, about chess, and it... it wasn't easy, but it made sense when I just thought about it all like troop movements and unit capabilities. I had a lot of fun with it.

Pavel Chekov. You'd love him, Winn. [In a platonic, non masculinity challenging nerd way. Of course she was about a week away from finding out Chekov had feelings for her, so maybe not so much love. She's also giving Winn a somewhat worried and curious look since he's fallen quiet.]

I think I like chess because it's hard. I like the challenge. Not that Tic-Tac-Toe doesn't have its moments.

[ he snaps out of his head at the mention of his name ]

Hmn? That's code for 'total nerd', right?

[ he smiles, trying to dissipate her concern. he can think about this later, he doesn't really need to make this meeting of the friends any more awkward by disappearing into his own head. ]

There are some pretty badass tactics for Tic-Tac-Toe, once you expend the board.

Nerds are so nice though. My friend Delta was a nerd in addition to being a computer person. He told me if I had enough money to buy shoes. [Priorities.]

We'd pay that out in the field, I think. Like, all you need is dirt and a bayonet.

I like them too. [She smiles at Winn.] And that wasn't code, but you're not...wrong. He's just very science-focused. Smart.

[You couldn't tell if you had enough money to buy shoes, Wrath?] You used bayonets? I didn't realize it was so old school.

It's a great time to be a nerd.

[ he returns the smile. look, basically anytime someone tells him he'd get along with someone, he assumes that means they're nerdy. it's usually true. those are his people.

bayonets -- sounds like a topic he'd be bad at talking about again, so he focuses on the first one again. ]

Those two usually correlate - [ nerd, computer guy...not every nerd is a computer guy, but every computer guy he knows is at least kind of a nerd. he's not sure what to make of that shoe money comment, so he decides to leave it alone. ]

[She has a hard time understanding numbers in the abstract, Kitty. Thank all that head trauma.] It's not so much old school as... like bayonets can't run out of ammo, right? So you have a bayonet and a combat knife as a weapon of last resort. And if you're going to have a rifle, might as well make it pointy just in case, right?

Tech heads are very nice people. [Wrath, you think everyone is nice.]

Good point. I've never been a fan of things that required reloading. [She uses her claws and herself most of the time.]

They are. [She leans her head on Winn's shoulder for a moment, apparently not that concerned about PDA. She had a good night and is just in a good, relaxed mood] They can be really cute too.

I shouldn't be letting you generalize, but it's just paying off so well.

[ he affectionately wraps an arm around kitty and gives her shoulder a little squeeze. 'tech heads' can be terrible, even the ones you idolize can end up...trying to murder your best friend. but they're both smart women who don't really need his warnings; they'd probably spot an evil genius or just an old fashioned douchebag way before he ever will. he can just sit back and enjoy here. ]

Yeah, and even auto loaders jam sometimes. [The tragedies of life.]

Aw. You guys are so cute together. [She wishes she had a nerd of her own. Sigh.]

[Kitty might have the tiniest blush. How did her life evolve to the point where she would be cute with someone again?] Is it kind of gross? You can tell us if it is. He'll probably be around more.

And before he freaks out about that the probably is only because he's got a slight issue with the shuttles.

[ oh no, that blush is just too cute. he can't resist the urge to kiss her cheek. ]

I'll get over it.

[ he can pretend it's that easy! ]

You're super cute and it's not gross. [Happy sigh.] Like a holovid romance. [Those kind of things make her feel warm and fluffy.] Not gross at all.

What's wrong with the shuttles?

[Maybe it would be okay to just enjoy this with him. She smiles.] Mm, I'll let him answer that one.