( open )

[decommission]

CHARACTERS: Steve Rogers + anyone
WHERE: The Bearings, Subspace,
WHEN: Day :011 and onward
SUMMARY: Open prompts and catch-all stuff
WARNINGS: nothing nothing



i. the mechanical menace (first come, first serve)

[ It's an odd pair that they make their way down a street in Delta Block. The android is about a head taller than Steve, and agitated. One of the reasons for that might be that the poor guy's missing both hands, and not because he didn't have any to begin with - exposed wiring trails down its wrists, both held forward like a supplicant - or out of habit, an assistant type model used to carrying something.

The other reason it seems so out of sorts has to do with Steve himself, who's carrying a bunch of groceries that were clearly meant for those missing hands. The bags aren't heavy, he doesn't struggle with them, but that doesn't stop the android from repeatedly trying to reach over and remove them from Steve's grasp. After the third attempt he stops, letting it lift both arms so that he can hook the bags at its elbows, securing them so that they have less of a chance of slipping.

Even with that done, he continues to walk along at its side. ]

ii. the arcade (multiple responses a-ok)

[ Bout it Out isn't something he's had much time for the past few days. Earlier in the week he'd 'made' himself an Avatar - for an artist his creativity's a little lacking, considering the damn thing looks like the generic copy the game automatically generates (it is). He practices by himself toward the back of the arcade, a plain staff in his Avatar's hand - moving slowly through the motions that Anakin had taught him back on the station to get a better feel for how it all translates into the holosphere.

Somewhere on the other side of the arcade a cheer bursts out. Not for a match - someone's tearing down a large poster of 'Kun-Kun' from the wall. ]

iii. back at the bearings (closed to parker)

[ Larann's broadcasts ends with an immediate flurry of anger across the digital realm. It's a mess of information to sift through the slow way, but he's gotten himself trapped in the comments section of one video and he can't seem to break out of it. It's culture shock, in part. The immediacy of Concordia combined with millions of voices demanding to be heard all at once is a dizzying effect, attention drawn in too many directions at once. Not unlike the Nest itself, and it's taken him the better part of a month to learn how to block all that out to some degree.

He just needs to focus.

There's a main screen in the common area where he's seated at a small table, a twenty-four hour news channel repeating the same handful of bombing related stories and anything remotely tangential. When it cycles back to a repeat of Larann's announcement for the sixth time he seems to lose his patience, using the interface device at his ear to mute the volume, forgetting that he's not the only one in the room. ]

iv. wildcard

(gimme a prompt and I'll roll with it!)

Comments

[deployed]

[ Bellamy's hand lifts, mirroring Steve's motion, fingers sliding over the interface device that's gone mostly unused since Bellamy's arrived. He's hesitant to throw himself into anything technologically related. Some foolish part of him keeps waiting as if he's ever going to be able to check in with Raven and have her explain it to him, promise it's not going to blow up on him. ]

You want company while you work on it?

[ It's a way to ask if he's intruding without saying it outright. Bellamy's become more than aware of the way he's bleeding emotions and sensations. He lacks control, along with the lingering confusion about certain aspects of this planet. It's inconvenient for him, nevermind for the rest of the Nest.

He glances over his shoulder, back towards the front of the Arcade to gauge the mood of the pack of men there, try to decide whether or not the destruction of the poster's satisfied them or spurred them on to bigger feats of disrespect. ]

[decommission]

[ If Bellamy's mind bleeds at times, Steve's is quiet in comparison, muffled behind red bricks and cracked plaster walls. Not perfect by far, but practiced.

The hand at his ear lowers and he gives a nod - he doesn't mind company. The teenagers bark out laughter as someone - an attendant, makes a half-hearted attempt to break up the disturbance. ]

It's getting tense out on the street. [ Another nod at the scene before switching his attention back to the sphere where his avatar is loaded up. It's not just kids tearing down posters either, the train Steve rode here on today had some anti-synth graffiti painted along the doors. Extraspace's been littered with worse from both sides of the argument. Gives him a headache trying to read through most of it, easy to fall into the mob of angry and hostile commentators. ]

[deployed]

I know.

[ Steve's observation isn't unwelcome. It's nice to know this isn't all in Bellamy's head. He knows his paranoia is coloring his response to things; he's uncomfortable, hyperaware of his surroundings and constantly watching for trouble. The city is unfamiliar, but no one here is explicitly out to get him. Yet, anyway.

He moves to stand next to Steve, mimicking his stance, attempting to look like less of a complete novice. The pre-made avatar flickers into existence; it bears no resemblance at all to Bellamy. ]

There were posters torn down and scribbled on all over the streets. I keep seeing them.

[ Or running into similar scenes. People always looked to him, expectant, and Bellamy kept turning away, unwilling to even make a cursory effort for the sake of blending in. ]