Red Fish Mingle

[mortalcoil]

Who: The crew and (many) visitors of the Red Fish!
Broadcast: Nope
Action: Aboard the SS Red Fish
When: Nebulously after the Great Winter Soldier Violence Spree of '16

[it was bound to happen sometime. all three captains of the SS Red Fish are hauled back home in various stages of medical distress, and things have been a little weird since then.

one of these things is the super soldier with the busted metal arm that is brought in to be kept locked up in Coil's lab for a while. turns out those restraints he'd had installed did come in handy. that's a thing.

so, whether you're here to check on one of the various ailing people here, gawk at the guy chained up in the dungeon lab, or are just trying to live your life in relative peace and sanity, come on in!]

Comments

[interstices]

I'm not leaving it. [Ugh. He's so frustrating. Doesn't he see that he won't be any good to anyone onboard if he's laid up any longer than he has to be? Painkillers wouldn't speed up recovery, but they'd definitely make it easier to bear. She picks up an injection vial, studying it with a frown. It beats looking him in the face as she makes her next demand.]

And why the hell did you bring the guy who tried to murder all those people onboard? Nobody voted on that!

[mortalcoil]

[they should just go ahead and have a contest for who is the most frustrating out of the two of them, and see who wins. maybe it would end in a stalemate. maybe the others would finally lose their patience and kick them both off the ship.

the immediate smart-ass answer she gets is him signing 'captain,' and pointing to himself. it's just a snap response fueled by aggravation, though; he knows the rank basically means nothing.

and after a strained, annoyed breath or two, he gathers himself enough to try and form something like a real answer--since she seems to be catching on to slightly more complicated signs.

'watching him,' is followed by the simple but dramatic sign for 'broken.' it's not much, but it's at least something to start an explanation.]

[interstices]

[Captain. Please. She's a captain back home, and not because some stupid show assigned her the part. Not that it matters now or even mattered much back then. Rank doesn't have its privileges when you're perpetually fourteen years old.]

[The signs continue to annoy her, for all that she does understand them. Asuka's been practicing and memorizing them fairly voraciously. Her syntax still leaves something to be desired, though she doesn't really plan on signing back to him, since he can hear her fine.]

I don't care if he's broken. I care that he's a liability, stupid.

[mortalcoil]

[she understands enough to argue efficiently, and that's what matters most. though, he nods at her this time, because he doesn't disagree. yes, yes--big danger here. he gets it.

'keep him here instead of running around,' he explains. 'supplies here. weapons here.'

and for the most important point, he motions to himself with as much emphasis as he can manage with how much moving his arms around is starting to wear him out.

'I can see him here. I don't have to wonder.']

[interstices]

Yeah, and you can't do anything about it if he breaks out of here, either.

[She's still holding the vial. He hadn't seemed to pleased at the thought of getting drugs, but it's obvious he's getting exhausted just by making signs. He'll probably pass out soon regardless. Asuka lets out an annoyed sound somewhere between a sigh and a groan and rolls her eyes.]

Then what? He's going back to his ship like nothing happened?

[mortalcoil]

[his arms are connected to all of those bruised muscles and bones in his chest, so signing with argumentative emphasis is miles more taxing than it should be. at this rate, it might tire him out as well as any sedative would.

he tries to shrug, but doing so with his shoulders would be too much to ask. it's more of an exasperated raising and dropping of his hands than anything else. he doesn't know. and instead of coming up with an answer for that, he throws a question back at her.

'what do you want instead?']

[interstices]

I'd want him out of the Fleet entirely.

[Flat, emotionless. Katsuragi had run a tight ship-- she'd had to-- but Asuka's opinions are entirely her own. Someone that can't be trusted not to go berserk can't be allowed free rein. It's that simple.]

[Asuka exhales, shoving her hair behind her ear.]

But no one asked me. Do you want some meds or not?

[mortalcoil]

['do you want me to ask you?'

it's not really a glare that he watches her with as she goes on, but it is a gaze that doesn't blink. it's a little bit cold, or intense, or intent, because she's steering the conversation toward something that he has wondered about but hasn't quite asked yet. and he's hurting and weary enough to just kind of push it further in that direction without bothering to think about whether he should or not. as far as he understands it, it's not the kind of thing that you just talk to other people about.

but he asks anyway, more than a little pointed. 'you want to kill him?']

[interstices]

Not personally.

[Her shoulders feel too tense for a shrug. She's not out for anyone's blood, not without good reason. Winter hasn't harmed Shinji, but he's still proved himself to be as heavy a liability as possible. Asuka matches Coil stare for stare, even and determined.]

But he tried to kill ten people. Actions have consequences.

[mortalcoil]

['punish him, then.'

he's annoyed, but the response is still an honest one. if she wants some sort of tangible justice, she can enact it herself or bring in someone who will. he won't get in the way. in the meantime, though--

'the only chains are here. so, he's here for now.' and he has to take one moment to rest between phrases, before signing with finality, 'that's it.']

[interstices]

[His annoyance makes her roll her eye. The Fleet makes no sense to her. There's no real order to anything, no sense to be made, and nobody to answer to except Atroma, who doesn't seem to give a damn as long as the show keeps running.]

It's not my place.

[Without there being a real justice system or at least a captain around with any significant power, then whoever he'd done all that to should decide his fate. They can't all be softhearted numbskulls about the damages. Asuka finally manages an actual shrug, though her shoulders feel a bit like lead.] Not meaning to do something doesn't absolve you from doing it.