hatch log, ota

[dbag]

CHARACTERS: Rhys and [insert your name here!!]
WHERE: The Station
WHEN: Day 166
SUMMARY: Desecration of perfectly good PJs, crapping of diamonds, and peeping.
WARNINGS: nunzo

( A ) NESTING DECK

[ It's the last one. It's only right that we both open it. That's the best part. It takes a moment to register that the walls around him are the Station's and not the Vault's — he blinks once, twice, to reorient himself. No stranger to cables and wiring in his body, he unplugs with little fuss, like it's just another day. There's only something wrong once the headache comes barreling in, a sudden dull ache all over like there's something inside his head trying to push and claw its way out. Internally bemoaning the unfairness of pain in exchange for such a simple action — if you're not supposed to unplug, they should put up a sign — Rhys scrambles for the cubicle, starkly empty save for two items: one familiar, the other foreign. He pockets the stun baton before inspecting the clothing.

Plain white pajamas befitting a mental patient. While in no position to judge anyone's fashion sense, he's offended at the suggestion he dress in them all the same. What's next, he wonders, onesies? In spite of his better sense, he makes the unwise choice not to take the only other clothing offered. (He'll wear the same gross clothes every day, and he'll look incredible, thank you.) Instead of gathering them in his arms to take to Life Support, he takes one last look at them before balling them up and throwing them down the ladder. Good riddance.

He chucks them further and more forcefully than intended, but there's no sound of cloth hitting the floor. Rhys listens for a moment, perplexed, then climbs down the ladder to investigate. No pajamas on the floor, he notes, entertaining the idea that they were so ugly the lord smote them out of existence. They still very much exist, but not where he'd expected. When he makes his way off the ladder, he spots them, not on the floor but hanging on a human head, having hit them directly in the face. It can't have hurt, and although he'd be annoyed for the rest of the day were he in their shoes, he feels an apology is unnecessary. Or maybe too much effort, what with the headache and nearly escaping death with a daring rescue and all. ]

You can keep those.

[ He inclines his head and clicks his tongue, as if he's doing them a favor. In reality, he'd rather just see them gone. ]

( B ) HALLWAY

[ The Station is so sparsely populated it almost feels like a ghost town. It seems intended for hundreds of people, but they must be coming fashionably late to the party. He almost expects it to echo when he idly calls out. ] Helloooo?

[ No one answers, as expected. He stands in awkward silence for a moment, with nothing to do but stare at the walls. A few seconds pass before, in 'Good Morning Vietnam' fashion, he shouts, ] Goooooood morning, Station! [ As before, no response — he smiles like a kid who's just been left home alone realizing he doesn't have to wear pants around the house anymore. Pacing in this hallway, he can say anything. The others could be anywhere, but most importantly, they aren't here. ]

I have thirteen toes! [ A pause. ] I crap diamonds! One time, I made out with a duck!

[ As he reaches the end of the hallway, he turns and realizes he's not as alone as he thought. There, at the distant other end, stands a person. He'd likely have noticed their arrival had he not been shouting nonsense into the ether. Deflating, he grimaces.

Nonchalantly: ]

—Oh, heyyy.

( C ) LIFE SUPPORT

[ Life Support is the least strange part of the Station, which is oddly comforting. It's a 'take what you can get, beggars can't be choosers' situation; on its own, it's still peculiar, but compared to everything else, it's a hotel room in a goddamn five star resort. The lack of doors is the most puzzling part of all. Why have doorways without doors? It shouldn't be so surprising, given that the theme of tonight's event is togetherness, but it still seems a violation of privacy.

Violation or not, it doesn't stop Rhys from spying. He rationalizes that he's trying to see which rooms are occupied, but the truth is he's hoping for entertainment. Maybe he'll eavesdrop on some nasty gossip or find out who's got a newly bloodied knife on their bed. Unfortunately, he lacks the stealth required to be a proper spy. While he'd love to backflip around the hallway and limbo under invisible lasers, it isn't in the cards. His snooping around is hardly covert, and he makes little effort to hide it. If they weren't supposed to look in, after all, there would be doors. He's doing his civic duty.

Hope you don't mind someone stopping to peek in your room. ]

( D ) WILDCARD

[ do whatever you want! choose your own adventure! go hog wild! if you need me, i'm at regnant. ]

Comments

[adamance]

You'll have to know all of this. [There's almost a shrug to her tone—as much as Lexa has a shrug to her tone. Getting it all out of the way seems prudent, since he won't listen otherwise.]

If you're seeking help from someone more experienced, find the one who calls herself Cathaway. [There's a hint here that there could be someone else to go to, but if Lexa's demeanor irritates the Prince, she imagines it will be far worse for this man.

Plus, she doesn't want the Prince influencing anyone from her brood. She doesn't think that he's a particularly worthwhile ... experience. Her contempt for him was fully formed by time he tried to make her feel guilty for a death she had nothing to do with. Lexa fully accepts culpability for the things she does. She didn't do that.]

Otherwise, it depends on the world you come from. Don't die. Train when you can. Our bodies are different now.

[dbag]

'Don't die'?

[ Worst. Motivational speaker. Ever.

She's very matter-of-fact, he notes, like this isn't her first rodeo. Maybe people die around her all the time. (Or maybe she's a robot, which seems more and more likely the more she speaks.) ]

Is that it? That's all you've got? You're not going to tell me to, I don't know, look through the rain to see the rainbow or dance like nobody's watching? You could stand to work on your inspirational skills.

[ She hasn't said as much, but Rhys assumes by her manner she's the leader of their little outfit — if not officially, then self-proclaimed. There's only a few others he feels as strongly as her, and somehow, he doubts they're willing to challenge her. Despite the actual words needing work, her delivery is spot-on. Very authoritative. Very scary. ]

[adamance]

[After a beat, her eyebrows raise yet again. She tilts her head back, tilting her chin up. Lexa realizes that it's not much, but she's read him as someone not willing to listen, or not ready to listen. The matter of being inspirational can be dealt with when it seems like he's better at confirming what she has to say.

But she presses on despite that, at least granting him that opportunity.]

Do you wish to see your people again? [Each of them chose to live for a reason. No matter what, Lexa assumes that none of them want to die, even if one of them already has since she arrived.]

Some don't care to. I intended to find out where you stood soon enough. [But she didn't actually want to be Captain Exposition, detailing everything and dealing with his flippant responses. Cathaway has the patience to deal with that (or whatever it is that she has—Lexa still doesn't know what to make of her).]

[dbag]

[ Your people is vague — his immediate response is to ask, "What people?" He wouldn't consider most Pandorans his people. Maybe the employees on Helios back before it plummeted to the ground, if by 'his people' you mean 'people he stepped on during the crawl up the corporate ladder.' If he takes it to mean the few people he's close to, though—

It would be a lie to say he's all right being separated from Vaughn yet again. A hero needs his sidekick. Without Vaughn around, he's just some asshole. (Even if he were around, Rhys would still be just some asshole, but he likes to think otherwise.) He'd miss Sasha, and Fiona, too, despite how angry he'd been with her only a little while ago. And god, then there's Gortys — someone is going to have to keep that stupid robot out of trouble, and quite frankly, he doesn't trust Fiona to raise her properly. She'll teach her how to back talk. ]

Is this a trick question? [ There isn't a situation he can imagine where someone would say, "No, I'm cool with never seeing anybody I love ever again." ] Yes.

[adamance]

[Not everyone has someone to love, and some believe their worlds are better off without them. Lexa doesn't fully understand the latter sentiment, though it's one she's beginning to piece together. Guilt weighs heavily on the mind. Guilt can make someone believe they deserve little. It's not a thing she's experienced herself, not to that degree, but the Nest has changed it.]

It isn't one. Like I said, some people don't care to. [She doesn't go into the nuances, but there is the sense that there are nuances if he wishes to ask. Lexa doesn't always choose to go on in detail about things.

Actually, she rarely does. Unless she feels it behooves her. It doesn't here.]

We are a danger to our worlds. Staying alive here means we're successful in taking down the threat that threatens us. If we stop that, we have a chance to go home. That's why you don't die. [And if he thinks it's a trick question, then it's simple: he should want to avoid that. He should do everything possible to return home.]

[dbag]

—Okay, yeah, I know, I wasn't asking why I shouldn't die.

[ In opposition to Lexa's non-emoting face, his is going a bit wild, looking at her like she's crazy. (He thinks she actually might be, too, but he doesn't yet know for sure. Again, she might just be a robot.) ]

I'm not gonna die because I don't want to die, dying isn't exactly on my bucket list.

[ If he does die, though, he'll have to make sure someone tells the world he died heroically. It probably won't be Lexa. ]

I was just saying, that's... not very good advice, I've spent my whole life not dying. I was just sort of hoping if you were going to be feeling me, you'd give me more advice on how not to be... felt— okay, can we use some other terminology for this? That's less weird?

[adamance]

[Rhys is a survivor, then. Much like her. Much like many of the others here, like Angel. Like Ilde. It's information that she files away. His demeanor is nothing like those who come from her world, who are so broken by their experiences that they have to keep their noses to the ground. Many of her people are like her: impatient, unfeeling, and rash. That means that they can act with decisiveness.

Unlike her, Rhys doesn't seem like he's decisive about anything.]

Feel free to make a suggestion. [There's a lightness to her tone in that it sounds like she's actually offering him the freedom to do as he wants.]

Otherwise, keep your emotions in check. [She observes him.] They are a weakness. Can you do that? [She asks as if she believes it's impossible for him.

She does intend to get better training, but she decides not to say that just yet. She needs his response first.

(Yes, she's decided to provoke him a little. It's like a game.)]

[dbag]

[ On the flip side, Rhys has never met someone quite so cold and controlled; Helios was full of assholes who took joy in things like kitten fighting rings, and most people on Pandora seemed angry all the time. Either way, there's never been a lack of emotion. The only person he can think of who's at all similar to Lexa is Athena — icy, calculating, and above all, intimidating. As he thinks about it, he imagines they'd get on well, bonding over their distaste of facial expressions.

Predictably, he isn't much for keeping his emotions in check. ]

Emotions are a weakness— what are you, a supervillain? That was a really supervillainy thing to say.

[ He shoots her a pointed look, raising his eyebrows. ]

Anyway, don't worry. I've got all of this in check.

[ No, he doesn't. ]

[adamance]

[A supervillain. She's not exactly unaware of what a villain is, but she finds herself not appreciating that remark all the same. For him to boil down such a simple concept to a matter of villainy is useless. It shows how little he'll be able to keep things to himself.]

Emotions are a weakness because people can take advantage of them. And use them. You have to tread lightly so that you aren't predictable. [She sizes him up again with a look that basically says, "I am judging you so much that you're pathetic." She's rather good at looks like that.]

I expected you wouldn't do well with that. You're already predictable. [And there's the impatience to go along with the judgment.]

Don't be anymore difficult than you'll inevitably be for us. If you know how to survive, use your head. [Spoken like someone who doubts he's managed this long without someone taking care of him.]

[dbag]

[ He rolls his eyes petulantly, making a show of muttering under his breath. It feels very unfair to be stuck with Lexa, the complete opposite of everything he is. If there's one thing he takes offense to — there's far more than one thing, really, but this is near the top of the list — it's being called inferior, feeling subjugated. He dealt with it during his time at Hyperion, waiting impatiently for the day when he could crush his rivals under his expensive boots, but not anymore. ]

Oh, I know how to survive, all right.

[ There's so many things he could say. I ripped my own arm off! I shoved a shard of glass into my head port! I nearly died in a space station plummeting to the ground! He can't decide what to choose, though, so it comes out as, ] Are you— rgh— I ki— ugh.

[ He holds up his robotic hand, frowning deeply. ]

We done here, brain-pal?

[ It sounded far better in his head than it does in actuality, but he lets it happen. ]

[adamance]

[The only shift in her expression is subtle. Lexa's face remains cool and unchanged until he raises his hand, and then her eyes move over to take it in. It's unusual. More than that, it's unfamiliar. She doesn't know what to make of it, so she decides to piece it together later.

His emotions are agitating, though she knows that she's the cause for them. That makes it easier for them to deny, accepting full responsibility for it. She does get the sense that what she had meant to hurt hadn't landed the right away, but that other things did. She'll have to piece that together later.]

As I said before: seek out Cathaway. You'll be better equipped after you meet with her. [She intends to do the same to find a means to helping their situation, but she doesn't tell him as much.

That would be too much of a convenience for him, and Lexa only says what she feels needs to be said.]

We'll speak again later. [At least he knows not to die. Now, she'll see if he's actually capable of managing as much.]

[dbag]

[ He wants to say something like, "Like hell I'll seek out Cathaway," just to spite her, but bitterly notes that it's actually a good idea. If Cathaway is at all softer than Lexa, it'll be an improvement. He requires more coddling than Lexa is willing to give. ]

Can't wait.

[ The hand he'd held up to stop the conversation now waves, entirely lifelike except for its appearance. It's more of a sarcastic wave than a genuine one. After his snarky retort, though, he deflates a bit and says, earnestly this time, ] See you later.

[ Having hit his niceness quota, he backs away, irritated expression dropping to one that's more awkward and embarrassed for a split second before he rounds the corner and disappears. ]