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[theboogieman]

Who: Zhas & You!
Broadcast: Fleetwide
Action: Red Fish
When: A few days after that planet is in range.

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[what is it about public network forums that invite sleep-deprived people to post weird, existential questions at three in the morning? but one insomniac has it bad this week, and the forest has not been playing well with his already-tenuous grip on reality.]

what are your dreams like?

[so, who else is awake at this hour?]

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[and if anyone on the SS Red Fish is also still milling around this late (or morning), they can find Zhas at the kitchen table, slumped over a bunch of star charts, trying to take notes and compare to a book he has open. his face paint is a little smudged on one side, maybe from his constantly trying to prop his head up against his hand.]

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[mortalcoil]

[oh, he understands. so, instead of questioning further, he just folds up into a chair beside Zhas--drawing one knee up and turning his attention to the charts in front of him.

it doesn't really matter what he's looking for, just the fact that he's looking at all. it's good... but it's not like Coil has ever been able to leave things at that.

'patterns?' he asks. maybe Zhas is looking for something else in the stars, but patterns are what Coil is best at, so he starts there.]

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[theboogieman]

[Zhas has a lot of pride, as the son of a great Queen and all that. he prides himself in his work, in his usefulness, in his ability to finish the job. it isn't easy to hand that over to other people, and he normally loathes having to outsource what he should have been able to do himself.

but he also knows that Coil is a lot smarter than he is. they're clever in very different ways. if anyone can help him make sense of whether or not this is worth it--it'll be his brother.

'maybe. some factor repeating in each system...' he pulls a better-labeled chart out from under the others. this one was easy, already well-labeled, but at least his work is reliable. and as the wheels start turning, with Coil's presence prompting him forward, he doesn't mind adding, 'don't know if there is anything to find, but it's a place to start.']

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[mortalcoil]

[Coil nods, looking even more awake than before. because, if there is anything that always makes him feel better, it's being given a project. he doesn't see this as helping Zhas in an area that he might be lacking in--to him, this is being assigned a task by someone he looks up to. if anything, Zhas is the one helping the other. he's suddenly giving Coil some of the direction and validation that he's been missing, and he's more than ready to dive in.

they used to talk like this all the time. he'd really missed it.

'maybe with stars. but there are other patterns...' he signs a little quick-and-clumsy, as he starts flipping through the other notes and charts Zhas has gathered there, getting a rough idea of what he has to work with.]

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[theboogieman]

[he lets Coil look, helping the other sort through the notes he'd been taking all night. the work here is rudimentary and pertaining only to the previous star system, but he did his best considering he had no idea where to start...

...after a little while, watching Coil as he flips through information, noting the look in his eye, he finally thinks to ask, 'You aren't tired?']

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[mortalcoil]

[he pauses when he's asked, blinking a little, like he actually has to take a moment to check in with his body again to figure it out.

however, his answer is just to turn it around and send it back.

he lifts his chin a little, and he points. 'you?']

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[theboogieman]

[Zhas' response is to stare back at Coil, as if his still, unblinking state could somehow convey just how not awake he is in this very moment.

'dead', he finally signs, leaning lifelessly into the gesture.]