driftfleet | 04

Entry tags:

04 - video

Who: Winn and you!
Broadcast: y!
Action: on the Tourist!
When: August 2nd

[ some of you may have noticed that winn has been uncharacteristically quiet for the past...16 days. he's not really sure how to address the elephant in the room - he knows these two weeks and change have been hard on the people he loves but for him it's like no time has passed and the dissonance is hard to bridge.

it's a good thing he has a not at all unhealthy coping mechanism set in place. ]

You know, if we're entertainment on a reality show, the least they can do is give us like a recap - you know your basic [ in a tv announcer impression ] here's what you missed on the Fleet - or - last week, on the young and the Drifting - [ he rubs the back of his head before shaking it ] Well, maybe talking about the 'least they can do' isn't such a great plan...first order of business - what'd I miss? Second order of business - if you or anyone you know has ever fallen into an unexplained sleep here or at any other kidnappy world - I'd appreciate it if you'd answer a couple questions, they're a text attachment at the bottom. Sorry if it's been done before, I'll gladly take a link to any previous research as well as fresh data. Third order of business -- hi. [ he gives the camera a little wave and a nervous chuckle ] Um. Yeah, I'm, I'm fine, I should've opened with that but if you know me the order isn't really gonna surprise you that much and if you don't you're probably really confused right now and looking for the off button - it's to your right, right on top, there you go.

That's it, I guess....good morning, Drifters - don't forget to drink your coffee! Winn out -

[ except he's not all the way out. hank and cisco each get the following message to their personal numbers ]

I need to discuss something in person. My place? [ he can't really leave kitty yet ]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ he's just looking at her like she's the coolest person to ever live. you'd think seeing the extraordinary every single day here would curb his enthusiasm. you'd be wrong. ]

Coo-ool! Are you limited to some type of element, or something, or can you just...do whatever you want within the parameters of your stats?

I wish I could do whatever. I can use any spell I've learned, but... I'm still just a basic mage. All I have are elemental attacks and status effects. Fire, Ice, Lightning, Poison or Sleep... Wind and Flash for utility. Technically I have Quake, which is absurdly powerful, but it's also totally useless.

[She's puffing up a little, though. Being treated as cool is kind of new and unusual to her, and she kind of likes it.]

[ anytime she wants an ego boost, she should call winn up because to him? that list is awesome. ]

That's sick - wait, sleep - can you do the opposite? Can you wake people up?

[ forever looking for the practical applications of his friends' powers. ]

Yes, by hitting them with my staff.

[She sounds totally deadpan.]

I'm a pretty shit healer, and I never got the spell to remove status effects back.

I take it it's not the sort of thing you can regain through practice and self study -

It... might be? It would take a lot of time and practice, though. And the only way to practice healing is someone being injured.

But I don't think it is. I have to regain them through games, just like my memories.

You mean, you have to go back to Kyriakos in order to regain your abilities?

Probably, yeah. They were lost along with my memories, so...

[ he turns it over in his mind quietly for a while. if his theory that all these worlds are connected is true - then there has to be a way to regain her memories and her capabilities in each of them. however, that way would require bypassing their omnipotent overlords who control their surrounding and their minds. if this world is a real world than the key to her memories lies in the augment. if this world is a false reality - then all they have to do to unlock them is to break the mental barrier that's keeping all of them in check, somehow completely disconnect her from this reality, let her take control of her own mind.

it's tempting to examine, but he won't bring her in on his theory. it's too dangerous, the atroma are too powerful. it's bad enough he brought cisco and hank in on it, he won't risk anyone else.

so instead, he offers her a sympathetic smile. ]

So hey, you and Natalie?

[She blinks at the sudden subject change, then laughs a little.]

Oh, right, that story was why I came over here. Has she told you much about her team?

[And out of her inventory is coming those bottles again, and a couple of glasses.]

[ the king of segues, right here. ]

Not that much, we mainly communicate in banter.

[ he pours them each a drink. ]

Yeah, same here half the time.

So... She had a few relevant teammates. Silver, Obsidian, and Carnelian. Silver and Obsidian were... Well, Silver was coming to me like a week after Obsidian showed up, asking me if I could heal a hickey. They were all over each other right away. Meanwhile, Carnelian had a power to view other people's memories... Except she couldn't control it. So she'd just see memories at random, and then just try to force her opinion on you.

So, naturally, those three thought they were totally justified in poking into Opal's and my situation and trying to get us together. So, naturally, we both dug our heels in and resisted it out of spite.

[you can probably see why she and Opal get along so well, huh.]

[ he absolutely sees it - but he also gets it. he resents the hell out of people who try to poke into his past and his mind without first earning his trust and his consent. he knows charles can help him, but he resists in a large part because the guy went for it without his permission. ]

Naturally. [ he nods, no hint of sarcasm. ] How long did that go on?

A few weeks.

I'm not sure of the exact chain of information, but I'm pretty sure Silver told one of my teammates, Wren. Wren was a little shit about it, too. [She says it affectionately, really.] So I dug in worse- I was never intending to act on my feelings, anyway. At home, there was someone else I had a... complicated thing going on with, after all.

Then... came that bad context. A 24-hour game, where we were trapped in- ... I probably shouldn't talk about that part. But, it was a game where people died, got injured, shit like that. We were trapped in that realm for over 24 hours, and each team was given our own cabin for sleeping in.

[ ah, that age old problem. loving someone in a pocket dimension when you love or could love someone back home. it's why he told kara not getting hank was a good thing, it's what kitty's always afraid will happen to him.

he nods. people dying for a game. all these overlords should be made to live in their own realities. ]

I... had another teammate, Roc. [There's a complicated story there, and she still has mixed feelings long after the fact, but that's not relevant to this story.]

When we were stuck in that snowglobe realm, obviously, none of us wanted to really talk about that. Roc was having problems similar to mine, and we talked about that instead- She had feelings for two different people. I told her about my situation, trying to make her feel better.

Naturally, pretty much the entire rest of the team was eavesdropping, and Magpie ended up basically demanding that we date as many people as we want. Apparently, monogamy was just not a thing in her world.

I had a lot of reasons to protest- I'm a lot older than Natalie, we were on different teams so we might have to play against each other, I had the thing with my friend back home, and I had thought she was straight.

Magpie tried to concuss me and Roc for making excuses.

That sounds like...an infuriating situation to be in.

[ he knows it. he knows what it's like to feel certain things would go badly and still have people badgering you to do it anyway. he knows the frustration of wanting to listen to them, because it's what you want, but also wanting to do what seems right, and being scared of rejection. basically, even though it worked out for the best for her, he's mad on her behalf. ]

Honestly, Magpie tried to solve everything by concussing someone and demanding they do it her way. I was kind of used to it. She was apparently some kind of special chosen hero in her world.

[What do you mean that's not the part he meant?]

Anyway, it didn't matter so much, because Opal and I had a... not exactly a fight? But we were kind of mad. I had promised not to get hurt, then jumped into a fight and got shot a couple of times.

[She just drops that so casually. Who hasn't been shot before? nbd nbd.]

So... Roc decided to fix everything a couple days later. By going and telling Opal what I had told her about how I felt.

[ you know who hasn't been shot before? this guy. which would explain the wide-eyed look of concern she's getting now, but he doesn't want to linger on her painful memories nor interrupt her story - she obviously recovered - so he bites down on his obvious concern.

and instead, focuses on what she's saying. as hard as confessing his own feelings for kara was, he's glad he was the one who did it. it's hard to imagine it being more awkward but throwing a go-between in there sure does it. ]

How'd that...go?

... Are... you okay?

[what would be so concerning about being shot???]

It went... As well as you could hope in that situation? We worked it out and started dating.

And Roc apparently thought I was going to spitroast her for it, since I'd threatened a couple of guys with it before? So she seemed repentant pretty quickly.

Yeah I'm I'm fine just -- [ running his fingers through his hair, his telltale sign of discomfort ] I'm so sorry. You had to go through that world.

[ it gets shittier and shittier every time he hears anyone talk about it. how is there still more suck to add on to that place? ]

But I'm glad it worked out for you guys. Or well, girls. [ could he get any awkwarder? yes, yes her can. he can always get awkwarder. ]

It's fine. I met a lot of important people there, after all. And that time, I didn't even die, so it wasn't bad.

[yeah, these are her standards. survived, so it was okay! pls ignore her ptsd. you should hear the shit they can't talk about, really.

though once she's back to that, she's tinged a little pink with embarrassment.]

It did. I'm lucky as hell... But if I kept going on that vein, I think she might bust through the wall to strangle me.

[ nope, he's not going to ignore it. he can't. he can't as a person, and he can't because she reminds him of his own girlfriend. so many people with ptsd.

he offers his support in the form of a gentle and concerned squeeze to her hand.

her next comment, however, earns a smile. ]

I think we have a scientific duty to test that theory.

[She just looks confused by the squeeze to the hand. ??? Did she say something wrong again? But his words get a grin in return.]

Okay, but if she does, I'm using you as cover.

It'll just allow me to test a second theory - if you scream in a spaceship, how many superheroes are gonna cram in to save you.

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