☮ 002. ((audio))

[delincuente]

Who: Alex Russo and you
Broadcast: Most definitely fleet-wide!
Action: SS Paisley
When: Saturday night

[Just before midnight on Saturday, the network picks up what may or may not be a familiar sound - the click of a cassette tape 'PLAY' button, a couple seconds of bumpy white noise, and then -

This very fitting song, in its marvelous entirety.

Oh, the things you find in a novelty shop on a foreign star system. Alex is eternally grateful, even if the fleet at large isn't. And when has she not found joy in driving people mad?]

Comments

[delincuente]

[She gets the vibe from his grin that he wants a topic change, and forces her grin wider.]

Well, there was the time I filled all the balls in the school gym with jelly.

[Dick jokes, eh?]

You should've seen the dodgeball game the next day.

[asinisterkid]

Beautiful. Please tell me someone got a video of that.

[ Though the forced quality to that grin makes him worry a little, and he holds up a finger in a "one more thing" gesture. He's a little quieter when he continues talking. ]

Though, just so we're clear... that was a "whee, something that might cheer us both up" attempt at a topic change, not a "shut the hell up with your depressing shit" attempt at a topic change.

You ever need to talk about the bad shit, I'll listen. Hell, you've probably guessed from the time I woke up trying to kill the top bunk that I'm not exactly trauma-free over here. So yeah. You want to avoid, I'm good with avoiding. You don't want to avoid, I'm good with that too.

...And if you just want to drink until the feelings go away, I have shittastic space vodka. Options! [ There are jazz hands. Because Jason is a huge dork. ]

[delincuente]

[The grin hangs on for a moment, but flatlines as he speaks. Alex looks down, suddenly very focused in a stray string at her jumpsuit's seams. She twitches her nose and purses her lips, clearly the absolute picture of Comfortable With Life in General.]

Not much to talk about. Just-

[Alex cuts off then, and instead reaches for to the neck of her tank top. She tugs it down, which would ordinarily be quite a nice site for a male bunkmate, except for the truly nasty scar stretching down from her sternum. ]

This crap's pretty old hat for most of you guys, you know? I grew up in Tribeca. I worked in a sandwich shop. Worst I ever got hurt was falling off a bike.

[She gives a shrug, falling back into the pillows.]

I don't care how shittastic it is, you're gonna share that vodka.

[asinisterkid]

[ Jason has an unpowered superhero's sensibilities about scars: they're good stories or bad memories, but above all they're badges of honor. They're sure as hell not repulsive or disfiguring to him. So he doesn't mind the view at all, scar included... but this isn't about that.

He takes in the scar, then meets her eyes, doing his best to catch her gaze and hold it, hoping she can see in his face that he's not going to run screaming, if nothing else. ]

...You know, there are some things that'll seriously fuck you up even if you come into them with a few years' experience dodging bullets. Pretty sure whatever gave you that scar would qualify.

[ He goes to his tiny little locker and pulls out a bottle of Space Vodka, and offers it to her. ]

Going into whatever that was, willingly or not, with no training at all, and coming out the other end? That makes you a badass by default. Not that being a badass fucks you up any less, but sometimes it helps to know.

[delincuente]

[Alex takes the bottle from him, twisting the cap slowly and absently, until it falls off between her fingers.]

I don't know, I guess I feel like I should've sucked it up. Come back stronger, or whatever. Like Simba. Or Jesus.

[Goddamn, that shit's strong. Forget vodka, it smells like rubbing alcohol. Alex tries not to make a face as she lifts the bottle, and covers herself with a sardonic laugh as she finally tosses it back. A long swig, and then a second one just because. She scrunches up her face, just for a moment, as it goes down.]

Space Vodka. Nice.

[asinisterkid]

[ dryly ] Because a guy who was impressive enough to have a religion founded in his honor is absolutely the standard you should be holding yourself to.

[ He shifts so he's sitting cross-legged on his bunk, elbows propped on his knees, giving her a serious look. ]

Fuck that. Fuck the good survivor narrative, the one where you're suddenly strong and perfect and you've transformed into this tough chick who takes no shit. Fuck all of that. You're allowed to not be okay.

You can get to "stronger", but... fuck anything that says you're supposed to just be that way now, like they hand out inner strength as a consolation prize for going through trauma. All that does is make people feel like shit when they react like normal humans.

[delincuente]

[Alex tries not to meet his eyes at first. She's halfway embarrassed that she had to go and bring this up at all. Why couldn't she have taken the bait, kept up with the jokes and the prank talk? But god damn if this boy can't rally, and she finds herself sitting back up to listen, tucking her hands under her thighs.]

... Nice speech.

[Translation: "thank you".]

You working off note cards?

[Translation: "I'm really grateful for you right now".]

[asinisterkid]

Nah. I've got it tattooed on the inside of my eyelids. You couldn't tell from the blinking?

[ Translation: "Hey, I care about you and I want to help."

He points at the bottle. ]

You feel like passing that back this way, or is it all yours now?

[delincuente]

That's dedication, man. You're such a hero.

[She holds one finger up, then downs another mouthful of vodka before passing it back over to Jason.]

Knock yourself out.

[asinisterkid]

I lived my whole life in preparation for the moment when that speech would finally be useful. I feel so fulfilled now.

[ He takes a swig, and offers the bottle back. ]

The thing I've noticed about this stuff is that around the third swig, it stops tasting quite so awful. Probably because it's already killed all your taste buds by that point.

[delincuente]

[She gladly takes it, tossing back another swig.]

No, yeah, I totally get that. Drink enough of anything and it'll taste like Grey Goose.

[asinisterkid]

Grey Goose?

[ Oh, look, it's Sudden Russian Accent time! Though rather than the comical fake-Russian most Americans might be familiar with, this is a dead-accurate Saint Petersburg accent, because Batman. ]

Grey Goose is overpriced French piss-water they sell to people who have no idea what real vodka should taste like. Now, Russians... Russians know vodka. Vodka is part of the Russian spirit. How can the French make vodka when they have no soul for anything stronger than grape juice?

[ And just like that, the accent vanishes. ]

And that's why you shouldn't spend too much time drinking with Russians. I heard that rant so many times it engraved itself on my brain.

[delincuente]

[Alex cracks up, almost losing her balance at the edge of the mattress. Maybe she drank that vodka a little fast.]

Dude. Don't ever let me meet a Russian then. I don't drink anything I have to pay more than twenty bucks for.