driftfleet | Video.

Who: Sam and you!
Broadcast: fleetwide
Action: Bloodsport or Iskaulit Bar if you find a way to squeeze in an action thread!
When: Today or whatevs, but backdated stuff is cool too.

[The last week has been really, really rough. Most people probably know.

He's been all but nonexistent for that entire week, and a few days after, too. Buried in hell memories and glitched to the point of barely functioning, he had stayed aboard the Bloodsport mostly with Nami. For the better, he knows later on; Nami understood him best, when it came to that side of him. It doesn't make him anymore ashamed and embarrassed that people had to see that. It makes him a bit depressed in the short time that follows. He wakes up on the third as himself — himself now, anyway. But he decided to just sleep for a day or two and try not to think about all the baggage.

But — he'll get pushed to move eventually, and the bar does need bartenders.

He will be out at the bar as he had been before the glitch.

It was what it was, he reminds himself. It was a part of him, and it's... well, it's not over, it'll never be over, but he's come a long way. He's better than that husk he'd been in the garden. He adapted and he survived. That has to count for something.

Still, there's some things to address.]

[Video.]

Hey, guys, I'm alive. Sorry for being so MIA at the bar, but I'm back now... Let me know if I missed anything.

[He's much better. See?? No burns or scars, and he's got his hair brushed, and everything is A-OK.]

I wanted to... apologize to everyone who ran into me, last week. I, uh, I said some pretty miserable crap and I know I sounded like a crazy person. And I just wanted to thank you guys for putting up with, um... that part of me. It's been years, and I'm much better now, and I don't... want anyone to - [He pauses, wringing a rag from the bar in his hands.] - to worry or anything like that.

I'm okay now.

So If you need a drink, I'll be here.

[A deep breath.]

Well... I don't want to just leave it on that note, so.

... Aaaah, let me think.

...

What's something you've accomplished that you're really proud of?

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[He looks at her -- and his expression softens into something apologetic.

Embarrassed, too.]

Yeah... Um. It was a kind of de-aging glitch. Only it just took me back a few years.

They picked a rough time. [She reaches out to put her hand over his, similar to that day she found him cowering in the garden.] Your bank account must he overflowing.

[As it had before, his hand twitches -- old habits.

But his expression is soft. And perhaps a little sad, but hardly the grim and terrible visage of a man neck-deep in hellfire. Perhaps someone who thinks about that hellstained man, instead. He squeezes her hand kindly, laughing a little.]

It is. Unfortunately.

They always know where to hit me.

I guess they're good at the ratings game. Lots of practice. [She does withdraw her hand before it gets weird.]

I know you thought you were talking to a hallucination back there. I just wanted you to know I wasn't planning on writing a book about what you told me or anything. Especially not one where you're shirtless on the cover. [Nami might have said something about the Supernatural books.]

[He chokes out a laugh, hands on the bar counter as he shakes his head, face downcast.]

Oh no, not shirtless.

I'm, um. Sorry I thought -- you were the devil. It wasn't... very nice of me.

[she smiles at him.] I've been called worse. Actually, I've probably been called that before. At least you were doing it thinking I wasn't me.

[He smiles sympathetically.]

Then we have a lot more in common than I thought.

[Someone compared him to Hitler Jr. once. It was rude. But hey at least it was out of his earshot; the more offensive thing was attempting to murder him with explosives.]

I'm doing better though... I mean, I hope people can tell the difference between him and me, anyway.

[He's still a fucking mess, and he refers to that Sam as if he's a separate, strange entity of its own, but he has it all carefully boxed and labeled.

That's something, right?]

Kids can be cruel in your world too, huh? And also adults.

[Tilting her head.] Him? Wasn't him, also you? [Noticing that separation and apparently rejecting it.] I can tell how much you've been able to work through the trauma.

Oooh yes, definitely both.

[His smile lingers, pausing thoughtfully.]

I've tried. I can put my own clothes on in the morning, and I make my own bed.

So. I think I'm pretty lucky.

That's big stuff. Though, you come off as a little more functional than just that. [Like entirely.]

[... He really is just terrible at admitting he's own strength in pulling his bootstraps. Something about giving himself any credit for something like that sounds terrible, like he's committing some quiet crime. But there are good people in his life who would pull his ear over that self-deprecating shit, so he just smiles a little and tries to believe in it, and his own endurance.]

Functional is better than not.

It probably doesn't get any worse for me than where I was, so — no place to go but up.

Edited 2017-02-16 10:06 (UTC)

[She was underplaying it for his humble behalf too. She sees him as very sharp and on top of things. She can appreciate there is still likely some damage. She has some herself.]

Always good to have a silver lining. How long ago was all that for you?

A few years. Um. Five or six? Maybe a little more, with the... traveling galaxies thing.

[He shakes his head, smiling.]

Sometimes I have trouble with dates. And time. Things like that... flowed differently there. I guess Hell is kind of its own dimension or something. Different rules.

You did mention something like that. The prison I was in before this had strange time. I think I was actually there a lot longer than I thought at the time. Not that it's the same as being in hell.

[He nods, tapping his hand on the counter.]

That's right. In hell, for every month on earth, it's at least a decade there.

So a day down there in earth time is... ahhh... a few months, I think?

[Though some places flow differently, but that's the general gist.]

Holy crap, Sam. [How do you come back from that?]

...You're kind of amazing.

[He stares for a moment, like she's gone and told him he has five arms.]

Huh?

[He hasn't met Elvis his #1 fan yet, so this is new for him.]

[So this would be a weird time to bring up his three extra arms too?]

You heard the same story I did, right? [The one he just told her.] The one where you were tortured for longer than I've been alive and you came out the other side like this? [Gesturing.] I mean, don't get me wrong, I'm sure there's still stuff to sort out in there, but you care about people. You have intelligent, funny conversations. [It could be a lot worse. It probably should be. Thus, how remarkable it is.] I'm saying I'm impressed.

[He practically goes red at that, and goes through a few faces, like...

Yeah, something like those.]

N—no, it's not... I mean.

[He rubs his arm, looking at the bar, then smiles crookedly at her.]

It's nothing to be impressed about. I mean, I just... held onto the handrails and rode the coaster, really. You know? It's not. I didn't really do anything other than try not to fly out of the cart, anyway.

[Is this coaster metaphor meshing.]

Okay, okay. [He seems pretty uncomfortable with praise for this and she can get why.]

Still, I'm glad you held on.

... Thanks.

Let's all continue that trend, while we're all at it, huh?

Edited 2017-02-22 08:58 (UTC)

All of us? I figured I was headed for a huge crash, but if you insist. [Smiling.]

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