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

[noctiphile]

I—[he's blushing]—There's no rule against that!

[gonstop]

Why are you talking about rules?!

[This man is a lost cause.] You're weird.

[noctiphile]

So I've heard.

[Multiple times. In this post.]

[gonstop]

[He sighs.]

If you don't want to be called weird, stop acting like it. [He frowns a bit at the screen, pulling his face back. There's more of a view of the emptiness behind him now.]

Maybe you're too stuck in your own head.

[noctiphile]

[That... actually sounds insightful. He pauses, blinks, calms down.]

... What would I do to get out of it?

[gonstop]

Doesn't that depend on what you're stuck on?

[He's settled down as well, it seems. The minute Mattias decides to take him seriously, he's wrapped up in it. Thinking. Kurapika has this issue as well, doesn't he? He's always so focused on his own thoughts and desires that he won't listen to any of his friends' warnings...

It reminds him of that.]

Sometimes I get really lost in my head over my family. [It's more personal than he would go on earlier days, but this time, it seems natural. He's saying it without even thinking.] So I'd have to step back and separate myself from them to do anything about it. Maybe you need to do the same.

[There's a bit of a pause, and he rubs at the back of his head as he looks elsewhere.]

Well, but I don't really know what's bugging you, so I don't know if that helps.

[noctiphile]

[It's... odd how this insightfulness continues. He's slightly unnerved by it.]

It does. Circumstance merely complicates it. You've been told about the ships, I presume? I'm stuck with one of my stressors.

[Two, maybe. If you count Aaron.]

[gonstop]

No one really told me, but I've been looking at things myself.

Aren't you guys all stuck down there for right now? Maybe you could stay at someone else's ship for a few nights.

[noctiphile]

I... hadn't thought of that.

[Though the only person he can think of who's not involved is...........a bit eccentric.]

... It could work.

[gonstop]

I guess advice from a kid isn't so bad!

[He's teasing, and that drops soon enough as he grins.] It helps a ton! You'd be amazed how much you can think straight when they're not there watching everything you do. Especially if you have a friend to stay with.

[noctiphile]

Ah. You've been through this as well, then.

[It's not a question. But, even with a child, it's good to know he's not alone.]

I'll have to try it. [He hesitates.] ... Thank you.

[gonstop]

No problem.

[This is advice he would have liked to hear himself... But things work out. So.]

My name's Killua, by the way. What's yours?

[noctiphile]

Mattias. Mattias Larnaca.

[gonstop]

[Oh, he gets a last name and everything.]

Cool! Hey, since I helped you out and everything, how about we call it a trade and you do something for me? [That sounds ominous, but he clarifies quickly enough.]

What was up with those attacks you mentioned? I saw the videos that came afterwards, but I'm still missing pieces.

[noctiphile]

There's not much to explain. Some ships came out of nowhere and attacked. They seemed to targets the ships with the least amount of protection, like mine. No one knows where they came from, though apparently they have been seen around before. But only on radar.

That's about all I know.

[gonstop]

[He takes that with a pretty calm face the whole time, even as he thinks. He'll just file that info away for later, if it happens to come up again.]

Huh. Okay. Thanks!