driftfleet | Red Fish Mingle

Entry tags:

Red Fish Mingle

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!]

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→ A
[it was a few days before Coil regained consciousness at all, and he has since become a silent and dour patient trapped in his own medical bay. though he can barely move, and being awake is a painful ordeal that he tries to avoid as much as possible, it's still clear that he hates being stuck there.

whenever his eye drags itself open, it's usually to glare mindlessly at whoever is intruding in the lab, and any moments he can dredge up the energy and willpower for it, he's struggling to lever himself up into a sitting position on the table. anyone lucky enough to happen by the lab while he's awake has a good chance finding him engaged in one--or both--of these activities.]

→ B
[eventually, he manages to grit his teeth and rally himself enough to move, fetching a few very important things that he'd had stashed around the lab. and being that his chest is seizing, aching mess of pain by the time he scrounges up everything he needs, he doesn't bother trying to crawl back onto the table. he takes his book of matches, scrap bits of paper, and candle stubs, and slumps himself down to the floor in the corner of the lab. there, he can prop himself up against the cabinets, and pretend that he is somewhere with enough peace and privacy for the task at hand.

whoever happens by to see the patient out of bed, will find him surrounded by burnt bits of paper, lit candles, and spilled wax, jaw clenched as he tries to concentrate through a stupid amount of pain.]

[ medical bay ]
[ It has probably come to the attention of the residents of the Red Fish that there is an outsider lurking on the ship. Well, not so much lurking as staying very much in one place, restrained to that one wall that doesn't fit in a medical bay.

Even if he could probably break those restraints and escape, he doesn't, because he has a guilt complex and probably deserves this. Winter's a mostly-silent guest, but if someone happens to engage him, they won't be ignored. Just.. don't expect much by way of conversation.

If you want to come give him a peace of your mind, or see how he's doing, he's not going anywhere for a while. ]

[ cas awakes like a bolt.

that's, uh, well, kind of literal. anyone currently milling about on the red fish this quiet early morningish time (for however much one can really track time while floating aimlessly in space) will be subjected to the ear-piercing whine of electric white noise, and a blinding white flash that fills the entirety of the ship for a good three to four seconds. it's fast, but violent, the sound and light both fearsome and pure in the same breath, and when the phenomenon passes, it leaves behind a humming energy, and a living scent like ozone and electricity, and it hangs in the air like a veil, all but tangible.

cas doesn't really remember falling asleep. he doesn't remember much of anything. fancy clothes and glowing moths, that.. polluted moon, right? it all feels distant, like an old memory, but in fact it's been all blackness since the moment he shut his eyes and didn't open them again. he didn't dream, doesn't think he even thought, like he was suspended, frozen in time and space. there was no going home, like sam had. no returning somewhere familiar. he only hung in the void, without consciousness and without sentience, until this very moment.

it's been a long time since he's felt so whole.

eyes wide and heart hammering against his ribs, cas sits up like a shot, breath rattling in his lungs, his body veritably buzzing with an energy that is at once so foreign and so familiar. shocked speechless, he lifts his hands and stares uselessly into his palms. ]

[Syeira doesn't like the lab. The lab freaks her out, because Coil had chains installed. And who needs chains in a place meant for medical healing? ~~Crazy evil scientists, that's who.~~

But she goes there, because that is where Coil is, and Coil is still badly injured. Syeira had pushed her magic to it's limits on the Iskaulit, trying to stabilize him, but her cure all was a nap and some coffee, and she's back on her feet like it never happened. Which means she's there to toss a few more heals at him. Even if he scowls at her.

Of course, that's how she finds out about Bucky being chained up in the lab. It pretty much puts her mother henning on instant pause, because:]

What the hell, Coil?! [Cue a sharp gesture over at the Red Fish's enforced guest.]

[breathing hurts. moving hurts. being awake hurts. so, he comes around with a full-body wince as some voice goes shooting through his head.

from where he's collapsed like a corpse in bed, there's a long moment after he drags his eye open in which he doesn't quite grasp what is happening. he sees Syeira, he turns his head with a worried pang toward their captive because at least some part of his brain is on edge about something going wrong there, but he doesn't see anything amiss.

it takes him a long, bleary blink before the pieces suddenly fall together.

Syeira. in the lab. with a captive.

suddenly, he's a little more awake then. 'no,' he signs, lifting a weak arm to wave toward the door. 'leave,' and 'fine.' come next.]

[ The lab has been relatively quiet, which has been almost perfect conditions to try sleeping to expedite the healing. His body still feels like one giant bruise, and his reactions are sluggish. Winter drags his eyes open, though doesn't move from his spot on the makeshift bed.

There's a girl he doesn't recognize, but she's yelling and it puts him a little on edge. She's yelling at Coil. That's backwards, he's even more corpse-like than himself.

He moves to sit up, though it's more of an effort with only one working limb, and the other about twenty-five pounds of dead weight hanging off his shoulder. God, his shoulder hurts. ]

He's not done anything wrong.

[ It comes out gravelly and low from disuse. Way to sound even more pathetic, Winter. ]

[Sam is following a bit after Syeira, mostly because he figured company would be a good thing in general — they could make it a quiet little visit, make sure Coil's doing alright, give him something to put his mind on if he's not too tired.

But Sam just sort of rushes in on the tail-end of Winter (wait, what) talking.

"-thing wrong."

He stops behind Sye, looking between Coil (looking like shit) and Winter (looking like shit, too, only with cuffs on). Aha. So this is why he could hear Syeira's pissed tone reverberate as he made his way down the hall. He looks to Coil, points to Winter, rubs an exasperated hand down his face.]

What the hell, Coil.

[.......... In case you wanted an echo of Syeira's original wording, only, you know. A bit low on the 'angry' and high on the 'confused'.]

Done nothing wrong? I'm sorry, when did chaining people up to walls become proper etiquette?

[Her tone is exasperated, and the only reason she's not gone into full on berating mode, is because both Coil and this new person currently attached to the wall of her ship, are in poor health. It helps to keep the terror at bay.

It doesn't do anything for the sharp stab of disappointment she feels at Coil though, and it shows on her face as she gives her attention directly back to him.]

I thought we were passed this sort of thing.

[She'd hoped they were past it. But clearly she was wrong.]

[oh, if he'd had a voice to express himself with right then. as it is, he can't even give a proper scoff with the current state of his ribcage. all he can do is weakly throw an arm up into the air in a very clear gesture of 'really??'

the disappointment--when he hadn't even done anything to earn it in this case--grates on him until his nerves are instantly raw. any patience he might have had evaporates immediately.

she might remember the signs for 'stop, you know nothing,' from the last time they'd gotten into an argument over something like this.]

[HOLY FUCKING FUCK.

Okay, Sam kind of almost loses it at the familiar feeling of light, of sound, of angel. He should know better than to lose his breath and let his heart beat wildly like it is, because it's not Lucifer's light; he would know Lucifer's light. Jesus. But that was an angel, which is freaking him out still because... aren't you supposed to be primarily human? That's concerning, Cas. Really concerning.

But he doesn't want someone else to get splattered first if that wasn't you, so he's quick to investigate.

And he finds... Uhhh...

Well.

He stands awkwardly in the doorway, a bit disheveled by the surprise.]

.......

Cas?

[ Dean is more than well acquainted with this particular noise.

It's the first time he's clapped his hands against his ears because of it for what feels like a millennia, the angelic ripchord of a screech pelting the Red Fish with its enormity. It immediately strikes a chord in him, a remembrance of a moment in a gas station in the middle of nowhere, a time where things had been different, where he'd been someone else, someone who was broken in freshly scorched ways. But that's of utterly no importance now, because Dean is practically falling off of his bed in the urgency to react, to do something, to find the source of the eminence that he already's intimately familiar with.

At least he can be thankful that his head is mostly on straight for the time being. He's done no better, functioning no easier, but he's running before he can stop himself to the dim resonance of the light coming from Cas' room, booking his way on over because there's an utter absurdity in this that he can't quite fathom yet. Because what it means can't be true, can it? It could mean a million and one things and yet the likelihood that it means a specific one is ridiculous.

... Stranger things have happened, he supposes. The inexplicable is their goddamn life, and yet he's still in a rush because if it means Cas is awake then really, what else does it matter?

Slamming to a halt in front of Cas' room, Dean does the best he can manage for the time being, which is to stare, watching the now awakened Cas curiously, as if he might evaporate on the spot, go up in flames, do something cataclysmically terrifying. He doesn't know. But he's watching because Cas has been down for the count for damn near two months now and Dean has long since run out of words for what that exactly means to him. But maybe that doesn't matter either when Cas is staring at himself as if he's come back to a body he lost forever ago to the minefield of their lives. ]

[ Honestly, he doesn't see why people are raising a fuss after the wave of destruction he caused. Fuck, he caved in Coil's chest cavity and gave Zhas a nasty concussion. If anything, they should be being nasty toward him.. ]

He didn't do it so much as.. have the facilities to.

[ What else would the fleet have done to keep him in check in case he loses it again? Winter's not really to a point yet of trusting his own head. ]

[waking on the ship, dipping agonizingly in and out of consciousness, allowing the soldier that had attacked him to be installed into the same space that he's currently occupying, has all been a bit of a blur. he remembers the important parts, he's been aware enough to answer and make decisions and run on auto-pilot when needed. but most of his mind has been set on healing, and powering through the pain.

it isn't until he can hoist himself up into a sitting position without being wracked with fiery spasms through his chest that he finally actually looks at the soldier with any amount of clarity in his eye. he's actually awake now. it has been a few days, but he can finally pick up where he'd left off and address the problem left chained up in his lab.

so, once he's caught his breath from sitting up, he turns to dangle his legs over the edge of the bed and just look over at the man for a minute--making sure he's seeing something familiar, and not the creature that had nearly killed him, before making another move.]

[ yeah sorry sam, for all this angelic snoring or something, didn't mean to surprise you, brush.

.. but from the look of it, cas is just as surprised as the rest of you red fishians, and when he lifts his eyes to sam's face his mouth drops open like he's going to speak, but damn if he just can't find the words. so he shuts it, opens it again, shuts it, like a stupid flopping fish. ]

Uh.

Hey, Sam.

[ cas hadn't exactly been entirely conscious for the flash and the shriek of white noise, but given dean's sudden tumble into his bunk, and the flabberghasted look on his face, he's guessing that it must've happened. it only makes sense, right? the power of his grace is coursing through his body like an electric current lighting him up, and it's.. strange that it feels more unnatural than it does normal, like it's something foreign and clumsy and not at all usual, even if it feels familiar, and sweet, like a breath of fresh air after living in a suffocating cave for too long.

cas swallows thickly, glances up toward dean with a cocked brow and.. can think of nothing at all to say. ]

Um.

[ okay, good start. ]

Mornin'.

[ nailed it. ]

[ Fuck You.

Why is that the first thing that comes to mind? Dean isn't entirely sure, but he swallows it back and stares for a good long while, coming to terms with his weeks worth of absolute terror (sleepless nights, drunkenness, paranoia) that Cas wouldn't be waking up again, not ever. That this would be the end of things, for good this time despite what Castiel had told him about being here, and he'd somehow have to watch him go, this time inches from his face. The cold hard facts of what he'd done would be there watching, wasting away, and now Cas is simply awake. And thrumming.

And god it's a good sight to see.

Dean doesn't realize he's holding his breath until seconds later and his shoulders collapse a little as Cas finally speaks, offers the smallest of greetings and its the best Dean can do to keep staring, inspecting what's in front of him as if he hasn't been to Cas' bedside a million times over while he's been down for the count, like he's seeing him for the first time again. Trying to brush aside his fears is a near possibility but Dean's buckling down - trying his hardest - trying to hold tight to what's left of his desperately stony expression. ]

It's been weeks.

[ You were gone. The hurt is somewhere there, but Dean stands taller, stiffly, uncomfortable. ]

You okay?

[he's first wondering if he's actually awake... and then, right after that, is hit with a distant pang of terror that he has died. the horror of light and the feeling of something monumental looming feels strangely familiar. had this been what it was like when he'd died before? he can't quite remember.

it's only when the agony of sitting up on the medical bed wracks through his chest that he realizes he really is awake and exactly where he expects to be--alive and on his own ship, still crippled and struggling to heal.

but that realization doesn't clear the fear away. that feeling of purity still grates against every nerve he has; the raw worldstuff lingering in the air gets stuck in his battered lungs when he breathes. it makes his skin crawl. if he'd ever tried to imagine what something completely opposed to the dark teachings in his head and in his blood would feel like, this would be it.

so, even though he's still grievously wounded, he manages to crawl out of bed and onto his feet. lightheaded and reeling, he creeps his way through the halls of the ship until he reaches the doorway of Cas' room and peers inside.]

[ cas has no way of knowing how long it's been, though he remembers when sam slept, that it was weeks before he rose, and judging by dean's face, he can only assume it's been the same for him. honestly, if not for dean's clear concern and voicing how long it's been, cas might not have realized that he'd been sleeping for any longer than is usual, might not have realized that it's been any longer than a single night. ]

Yeah. Yeah, I'm..

[ trailing off again, cas glances back down to his hands again, before he's turning enough to throw his legs over the side of the bed, still slow, still unsure like he doesn't know what's going on, or where he is, or what could be happening. ]

I'm fine.

[ a beat, and he flexes his fingers back and forth, then lifts his eyes to dean again. ]

Better than fine, I think.

[She has not been privy to what angelic power actually feels like, since Cas is the first celestial she's ever met. So getting blinded by not just overwhelming light, but light that feels like there's power behind it, that deafens her a few moments as it sustains, makes her react instinctively. She puts her back to the nearest wall, draws her knife and uses her other arm to block her vitals. She doesn't try to attack anything, but she's prepared in case this is meant as a way to disorient before an ambush.

Then then light fades, and she's seeing spots across her vision, but that's all. Everything seems to be unharmed around her, even if there's a residual hum of energy in the air, that makes the hairs on her arms stand on end. But that means little, until she sees for herself that everyone is safe. And she's past quota with people on the ship she needs to check in on.

It's Cas she goes to first. She's hoping he's safe and sound, unruffled in his bed. That the books she's been bringing in and reading to him are still in their piles against the walls, where no one will trip on them. She's not expecting him to be awake. Hopes yes, always, but not expects. So when she gets there and sees him sitting on his bed, she's about as dumbfounded as he is for a moment.

And and instant later it clicks in place, and she's half rushing across the small space to throw herself at him in a hug.]

You're awake!

[ Dean is a myriad of things he wants to shake out of Cas, as if throwing his frustrations at him will fix the hours and days and weeks of endless inward hysteria stating that this would be the end. But Dean knows it's not Cas' fault, not in the slightest, and so he shuts his trap, keeps it to himself because it's the only thing he knows how to do.

Instead, he watches, curiously enough, because something has gone on here. Something that hasn't yet fully risen to the surface but has everything to do with the ear-splitting angelic noise that rose from... Cas himself? He's not entirely sure, but he's still familiar with it, knows what it means when an angel has set foot into existence and there's only one of those around here, which means--

Well, it means the obvious. Even if it's hardly obvious at all.

Still hovering, however, entirely unsure of what to do with himself despite the overwhelming urge to throw himself on Cas just to make sure he's whole and here and not dissolving on the spot, Dean just watches Cas inspect himself and tries to come up with something to say. Something that might be clarifying, might provide an answer to the question that's still lingering in the air. ]

Mean what I think you mean?

[ Because that's kind of a huge thing, monumental even, and Dean doesn't quite know what to do with it. ]

[ given the din of noise at his waking, cas isn't surprised that he's attracting visitors here - it's only a matter of time before the whole of the red fish comes running, he thinks, but ah well. he's more concerned with figuring out what the hell happened than he is about startling people; at least no one was around to get their eyeballs burned out of their skull. that's a plus.

he spies coil there, though, peering around the corner, so he cocks a brow and drops his hands into his lap. ]

Hey. Uh.. sorry about the noise.

[ when he sees it's sye coming around the corner, he really should expect the leaping hug, but he's still a little too addled, a little too disoriented to prepare himself for it.

so when she's all but throwing herself onto him, he's so not ready for it, nearly tumbles back onto the rumpled bed entirely - but then he's laughing, one of those good, eye-crinkling laughs, and reminding himself to return the hug, to clap a hand gently between her shoulderblades. ]

Looks that way. Was I, uh.. out awhile?

[he's still battered and hurting bad, but... that light continues to take precedence over everything else. when something manages to strike a chord that deep in him--past all of the mortal, normal, human things--it kind of takes him over. both out of horror and fascination.

he'd never really liked Cas much, but he hadn't had a reason to think much of anything about him either. that has all very much changed now, though. his face is absolute caution as he lifts a hand to point at Cas and then draw a question mark in the air.]

[ he's not really surprised by dean's restraint, he's long since stopped being the hugging type even if cas still remembers what a warm, touchy sort of guy he used to be, how he was always finding reasons to clap cas on the shoulder, or nudge him playfully. but hey, it's the thought that counts, right? or something like that.

at any rate, cas climbs up to his feet and finds that he's unsteady, his legs like jelly and he stumbles briefly, but soon catches himself and exhales hard, grinning. ]

I think so.

[ but, you know, just to be sure - time to flex his muscles a little. cas lifts a hand, and flicks his fingers, tightening up the energy in his core and honing it like a blade, and damn it's so simple, like riding a bike. the door behind dean snaps neatly shut.

cas looks shocked, for a moment, before he whoops loudly, all but hopping up into the air with excitement. ]

Hot damn. I think I'm back, baby.

More than a month! Nearly two.

[It does her spirit good to hear his voice, see him up and moving. But that light. She can't sit here with him, much as she'd rather, until she finds out everything is all right. Though remembering it gives her a thought. She pulls back enough to look at him, concerned eyes sweeping him over.]

There was a light, bright and blinding, full of power. It filled the ship. Did it wake you? Are you hurt at all?

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Red Fish Mingle

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Winter || OTA

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For Bucky, Coil, Sam, and Syeira

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