First Breath Mingle!

[detectivewonder]

Who: The crew of the First Breath + visitors.
Broadcast: Nope!
Action: Aboard the First Breath or in station docking bays.
When: 4/25-4/31.

[Every week, regular as clockwork, Tim has a new plan to up ratings - although he doesn't put it like that to anyone out loud. This week, it's a bonding activity for the whole crew - painting their shuttles bright, custom colors. For his part, he doesn't have a color scheme in mind - he's focused on detail work, adding snarling mouths to their front, and impressive fictionalized kill tallies on their sides. If they might face raiders again, every little thing they can do to make themselves more impressive could coutn for a lot...]

Comments

[mysunnydisposition]

[ Steph has been focusing most of her work on one shuttle in particular, and it's... a lot of purple. It's mostly purple. It is too late to stop her now, you're all just going to have to deal with your bright purple shuttle. She has at least accented it with stripes of First Breath blue, so... there's that.

She comes up behind Tim while he's painting a kill tally on the side, leans in to rest her chin on his shoulder and study his work. It's cute. She's not sure it'll work, but it's cute. ] You really think our tiny adorable shuttles are gonna intimidate anyone?

[howcanihelp]

[ Steffa is coming back from doing some shopping for the ship with a bag of groceries in one hand and something apple-like that she's munching on in the other. She stops to survey the progress being done, smiling a little. ]

...We should do this on the Bishop. I'll bet Hiro and Krista would have a blast.

[detectivewonder]

'Adorable' wasn't what I was shooting for with the paint jobs. But it can't really hurt.

[He finishes one more black and red raider silhouette, and starts to turn to look at her, or maybe to kiss her - but he puts his weight just wrong, and suddenly he's tumbling sideways along the wing, taking Steph and both paint cans with him.]

[detectivewonder]

I can bring over any paint that's left here when we're done. Are you thinking the shuttles, or the whole ship?

[He turns with a smile, easily engaged - pleased the idea seems popular, because that means he's probably right that it will help ratings, although the more people who do it, the more diluted that effect might be.]

[mysunnydisposition]

They're shuttles, they're not exactly-

[ She breaks off with a little yelp, grabbing hold of Tim instinctively when he slips - and they both go tumbling. At least they both know how to fall without injuring themselves, and they've both taken much worse falls. Steph lands on top of Tim, but it's not even though to knock the breath out of them.

They are, however, covered in paint. Steph pushes herself up on hands and knees, and wipes a glob of paint off her forehead before it can drip into her eyes. ]

Well that was... graceful...

[howcanihelp]

That's a very kind offer, thank you!

[ Well, he'll probably get the most of the ratings, if that's any consolation. ]

I don't know, I'd probably poll the rest of the Bishop. ...Did you hear Krista stepped down as Captain?

[detectivewonder]

What? No! Why?

[detectivewonder]

Ten points out of ten. Uh.

[He blinks, groans, looks up at her, looks away when he realizes the way the paint soaks her shirt, coughs, and shakes his head.]

That... was unexpected.

[mysunnydisposition]

Well, if you'd planned it, I'd be a lot more annoyed right now. There's paint in my hair.

[ Steph rocks back onto her knees to take stock of the situation. Good thing she planned to stain these clothes anyway. Even if not this badly...

She groans softly, pushes herself to her feet, and offers Tim a hand up. The hand is purple. ]

So I guess we're done painting until we... clean up...

[detectivewonder]

Unless we're entering our modern expressionist phase, yeah.

[He grips her purple hand with his, ink-black, and hoists himself easily back up to his feet. Then, after a moment, he starts laughing.]

[mysunnydisposition]

[ As soon as Tim starts, Steph doesn't stand a chance, bursting into helpless giggles too. It's been a long time since she heard him really laugh, and hearing it again makes her whole body feel warm. ]

What? You know you're just as much of a mess as I am, right?

[detectivewonder]

You've- got handprints on your stomach.

[mysunnydisposition]

[ She looks down, and bites her lip to try to smother a fresh burst of laughter. It doesn't work at all, and she reaches up to smear a streak of purple down Tim's cheek. ]

I'm washing this off before it dries. You probably should too, unless you really feel like a haircut...

[detectivewonder]

A haircut?!

[That alarms him, sobers him quickly.]

Right. We'll have to make it quick - they only give us so much water.

... We're going to get paint everywhere on the way in.

[mysunnydisposition]

Yeah, probably. Just... try not to touch anything you don't have to, I guess? A few handprints and streaks of paint aren't going to ruin anything.

[ They give the ship character. Or something. Steph's already hurrying toward the showers, though, because she doesn't want to have to cut the paint out of her hair any more than Tim does. She leaves a trail of partial footprints and paint drops in her wake.

It's only when she gets to the actual bathroom that she stops, just inside the door. Right. Their showers don't have dividers yet. They're going to have to strip down together, at least to underwear and out of clothes that are still dripping paint. A few months ago, Steph would have been delighted at the idea. Now, since Black Mask... Steph's got a new set of scars that make her panicky and queasy when she pays too much attention to them, never mind the idea of someone else looking at them. Especially Tim...

They do still have to get the paint off them, though, quickly. She kicks off her shoes, turns back toward Tim with a smile just a little too false-bright. ] I'll help get it out of your hair if you'll help with mine?

[detectivewonder]

Uh. Yeah.

[He hadn't thought this through. He wonders, for a moment, how he'd look with a buzz cut, then shakes his head. If Steph needs the help, then he can swallow his uncertainty and be a gentleman. Which means not staring at her. He takes a deep breath, slipping out of his shoes, and looks sidelong her direction. Something's off.]

Sorry if I'm... nervous.

[mysunnydisposition]

[ She chuckles, very softly, at that, and shakes her head. It's no surprise Tim is a little nervous about it - that much is normal, at least, and it makes her feel a little better about her own sudden case of nerves. ]

It's fine. Just don't, like... bolt or anything, okay? I'd take that kind of personally.

[ Get it together, Steph. It's not that big a deal. She takes a deep breath, and pulls off her shirt as quickly as she can without getting more paint all over herself. Her bra is staying on for the moment - if nothing else, because she's sure if she takes it off Tim really will bolt - but it does exactly nothing to hide the mess of fresh scars covering her torso. A messy exit wound on her left shoulder, an inches-long stab wound on her right; dozens of clean scalpel cuts interspersed with ragged circular holes, most of those directly over bone...

Steph's eyes skate over Tim, watching him without going anywhere near meeting his eyes. It's not like he's never seen scars before, and she's sure he's got plenty of his own, but... this is different. ]

[detectivewonder]

I'm not going to bolt. I...

[He takes a deep breath as she pulls her top off, stripping his own shirt off at the same moment just to break eye contact, to stop himself from turning so red he might explode.

For a moment, he doesn't see the scars. He just sees her, and even paint-spattered and tousled she takes his breath away. But then he sees the way she's looking at him or not looking at him, and he realizes. It makes him self-conscious about his own new scars - the whorls of burn scars on his shoulder, the fresh slashes across stomach and chest from Ra's al Ghul and other assassins... but then he sees, really sees.

It isn't the marks that bother him. It's the thought of what happened to her, spelled out so plainly. But he doesn't flinch.]

Steph...

[mysunnydisposition]

[ She bites her bottom lip hard, her cheeks flushed pink while she tries to think of something to say, something cute and flip and not too serious... but those words don't come. Finally, she shrugs and mutters softly. ]

It's fine. I mean, everything's healed, so... [ So all she's got are the constant reminders. No big deal. Steph shakes her head and smiles wryly. ] This is so not how this kind of thing usually goes in my head...

But you should be shirtless more often. Like, all the time. It'd be great for ratings.

[ She shimmies out of her jeans, down to her underwear, and turns pointedly toward the shower. Washing off now. Dealing with the rest of it... can happen later. Or never. Steph's okay with never. ]

[detectivewonder]

[His eyes follow the motion of the shimmy, and he turns pinker than ever, mirroring her, remembering at the last moment that he has a good reason to turn away and stepping under the next showerhead over, taking a deep breath and turning on the water, brisk and chill at first but heating quickly.]

The Three Twins is already chasing that angle. I can't compete.

[howcanihelp]

[ Wow, that was emphatic. It surprises her a little, actually. ]

She said that after the attack, she felt like... she wasn't really in a position to lead the way she wanted, more or less.

[ she fidgets with the hem of her sleeve ]

She, ah. Asked me to be her replacement.

[mysunnydisposition]

[ She smirks, watching him out of the corner of her eye while she rinses the paint off her hands and forearms before she steps into the spray to wet her hair. ]

Well then it would just make me happy...

[detectivewonder]

If there was somewhere I could be shirtless for just you, I'd do it. But in case you haven't noticed, we're a little shy on privacy... case in point?

[detectivewonder]

Well... she made a good choice, anyway.

[mysunnydisposition]

[ Steph lets out a loud, dramatic sigh as Tim crushes her dreams. He's got a point, but that doesn't mean she has to like it. ]

Fiiine. I guess you're right... [ Spoilsport. ]