video;

[noctiphile]

Who: Mattias Larnaca
Broadcast: Fleetwide
Action: general waystation area?? vague hand gestures
When: April 22nd

[Lo and behold: Mattias fretting on a bench. It's not an obvious sort of motion, restricted to subtle shifts and twitching fingers, but it's noticeable enough to matter. He's hunched over the comm and what little the background shows is unrevealing. The corner of a building here, the awning of a kiosk there, everything unspecific.]

It's been quite a month, hasn't it? What with the attacks... [he drifts off, never very good with small talk. One of the many gifts he lacks.] It's been good to watch all the repairs. People working together... [Wow, he sure does suck at this. He chews his lip, glancing around as if looking for help. Nope. Nothing. Maybe he'll just get to the point.]

Still, tensions must be running high. Stress and such. Always have a way of sinking in. I've my own, of course. My ship fared poorly in the attacks and that—[He glances away, head sinking slightly.]—it's been the lesser of many events. I don't mean to complain but the effects are starting to wear. My usual methods aren't working. Reading—I just can't seem to concentrate and beyond that... Well. I've little else.

[He sighs, leaning back and running a hand through his hair. It messes it up a bit, but he's careful to smooth it back down.] It feels inappropriate to ask something so selfish but I'm at a loss. And there are a great many things that all of you know... [That I don't is heavily implied. He glances away, switching the comm to one hand so he can properly wring his wrist.] So, I was wondering—how do you cope? With... all of this. It doesn't have to be personal just. Just simple things. Like... jumping off a building. [Immediately, he scrunches his eyes closed.] —Bad example. But, you know what I mean.

[Fiddling nervously, he searches for something else to say, finds nothing, and cuts the feed. ]

Comments

action;

[mysterzie]

[ It takes a bit of hopping, but Aaron's been everywhere around the waystations lately in fits of restlessness and his own mounting stress. There's a couple spots he checks first that don't pan out, but he does find Mattias rather quickly and stands aside the bench, partially bent over to watch him. ]

Ever go barhopping?

[noctiphile]

[Oh for fuck's sake—he nearly yelps at the sudden appearance. Thankfully, he doesn't. But he does jump in his seat.]

Goddess, Aaron. Would you stop doing that?

[That's all he'll say on the matter, hunching over.] I've gone to bars? Does that count?

[mysterzie]

[ That gets a quirk of his eyebrows. ]

What, you wanted me to walk around all the stations looking for you?

[ Aaron shakes his head and moves to sit on the arm of the bench. ]

Nope. Barhopping. Checking out the different sights and flavors and flavors in all the different dives around town. It's a trip.

video;

[slukhtis]

Hit something or someone. Or drink. [ Don't hit walls though, terrible idea. ] Alcohol always helps.

[noctiphile]

[Oh. It's Him.]

I've considered it. The drinking, at least. [Violence. Ugh. No. -10 approval.] Truth be told, I'm a bit suspect of alien alcohol. One of them is green. I'm not certain how it got that color.

encrypted;

[catamite]

[--boop! and here is Nel's face popping into view on the screen. he smiles, but maybe in a distracted only halfway-believable way. maybe setting up an encryption and clicking into this feed a little too quickly.]

Hey. So, um... what kind of things do you usually try?

You're all... stressed out and stuff?

encrypted;

[noctiphile]

Emphasis on "stuff", yes.

[He pinches his nose, leaning forward again. Sighing.] I read, mostly. Work. A friend recently introduced me to screaming while driving. The screaming still works.

Video

[radiantwingedone]

[ So stressed that reading doesn't work? Welp, that's usually his go to. ]

Do you have any crafting skills? Whether it is ... drawing, or carving, or... sewing.

[ Not judging on the lack of small talk ability, he sucks at it too. ]

[noctiphile]

[There's the slightest flinch at the sewing suggestion.]

As much as I wish, no. My ability extends as far as mapmaking and then falls criminally short.

video;

[paeon]

There are many ways in which one could distract themselves or otherwise relieve stress. Training in martial abilities is a common one where I am from, but there are others if you enjoy working with your hands. Cooking, weaving, metallurgy, carpentry, leatherworking, alchemy...

Oh, glass blowing! That's one I've yet to try myself.

[ ... Ahem. ]

My point primarily being, I find that learning new skills to make myself useful in a situation where I was once of no use to be very good for my own peace of mind.

video;

[noctiphile]

You have a point. I've always limited myself to research, it never occurred to me to actually trespass into skills.

[HMMMMMMM]

I suppose cooking would be easiest to start with. I've already some experience in it. Though my last venture didn't... [oh. oh. is he gonna do it?] ... pan out so well.

[yeah, that's a smirk you see after that. so satisfied with himself right now]

[pocketpal]

[ Well, this one's been doing a lot of shouting at various electronic systems. That would be her main coping mechanism. ]

I'm naturally resilient.

[noctiphile]

[Fuck off, Captain]

Another one of your perks, I suppose. I'm afraid I have a few more faults.

video;

[gonstop]

[Poking his head up over the camera, hello.]

Everyone else said the easy stuff. If I wasn't stuck on this stupid ship, I could tell you the coolest places to go! [He's positive.]

Have you tried something easy like chocolate? Or what about any casinos!

video;

[noctiphile]

[Staring. With the deadest eyes.]

You barely look thirteen. What do you know of casinos?

video;

[twocomplex]

[Annnnd guess who is looking oh so concerned! Poor Mattias :(!]

Stress? My dear Mattias, you should know that I'm always here if you need someone to speak to.

[This is just a gentle reminder that he's been completely kind here. Of course. Never a moment of cruelty.]

That being said, I can recommend a few drinks.

video;

[noctiphile]

Oh, fuck off.

whispers i'm sorry greer

[moonbeams]

Ummm.. I'm pretty sure someone might have suggested this already but talking to your friends helps! If you surround yourself with the people you trust and who know you, you can hold each other together!

[She beams, though a part of her remains concerned.]

You're not going to jump off of anything are you?

yells for what

[noctiphile]

What? Oh, no. That was just a bad example.

[He coughs though, glances away. How does he word this for the public eye.]

And if your friends are part of the stress?

[That's not how you word it for the public eye at all.]

video

[poetontheinside]

Boxing. [He makes a couple moves-- narrows his eyes like he's concentrating, jabs his fists out, moves his shoulders rhythmically.]

Just-- oomph, you know? Get it all out there, wear yourself out. [He makes a couple more feint moves, and then sits back.]

I wasn't there for the, uh- attacks, but, uh. You need any engineerin' help?

video

[noctiphile]

While I appreciate the offer, I think we've got it covered. Three engineers volunteered. It's honestly a bit crowded.

As for boxing... Usually I'm against such violence but—[Even he can't deny it's tempting. He's got too much steam.]—I suppose we're provided with punching bags for a reason.

[Still, he sounds nervous.]

video;

[ino]

[ Aw, it's cute how flustered he is about asking ... ]

You know, it's not such a weird thing to ask. Everyone has trouble with this type of stuff when they first have to deal with it.

Everyone finds something different that works for them. Personally, it helps me a lot to have good company to spend time with. Even if everything sucks, if you can get together with friends and laugh and have fun anyways, things don't seem as bad.

[noctiphile]

But to air it so publicly... [He drifts off. Her reassurance is nice, appreciated, but it still feels wrong.

As does her suggestion. How to phrase this?]

As idyllic as the idea is I'm afraid most of my problems stem from those I'm close with. [He sighs.] Forgive, I don't mean to turn away an... excellent suggestion. It's merely circumstance.

[Hopefully:] I don't suppose you have any others?

video;

[peacockherald]

_{[ He was taking a break from his wandering around the station, small and desolate as it was. A good thing to, to be able to see this. Heralds did not ignore those asking for help. It simply wasn't in their nature. ]}

My mentors, when I was younger, taught me meditation. Or when that did not work, they urged me to find distraction with a hobby of some sort - something that required concentrating, focus. Empty the mind or hone it, so your thoughts do not crowd you.

video;

[noctiphile]

[He waves a hand.]

My hobbies have failed me. Meditation, however... [He drifts off, considering it. Finding it odd it had never occurred to him before or—more perturbing—that he didn't even know how to do it.] ... How would I go about that? Could you teach me?