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WHO? Midnighter ![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
thingpuncher, Noctis fessus, and Hei dipolar
WHAT? A BASE chat becomes a TDM nightmare.
WHEN? Post-shapers, just pre-TDM.
ANYTHING ELSE? Why not.
thingpuncher, Noctis fessus, and Hei dipolarWHAT? A BASE chat becomes a TDM nightmare.
WHEN? Post-shapers, just pre-TDM.
ANYTHING ELSE? Why not.
[ He’s not sure which has a greater potential for disaster: all three of them meeting up in person after the unintentionally volatile events of the shaper infestation or his broiled eel. He props open the oven door after deciding it’s the latter, having purposefully waited for a time that Angel would be in one of her all but comatose states after staying up far too long on the network. At least they have a few things in common. ]
>>TO: @TRENTCOAT, @BURGERKING
Hey Hei, M, I have you both on this. Swing by capsule 14 when you have a sec.
[ There’s a brief pause before the second message comes as obvious enticement. ]
it’s food-related.
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(discomfort is what he feels. he's hearing what he thinks are some of the nicest comments he ever has, even if there's humour being slapped on, and he's the last person who deserves anything like that. they worried about him? about him?
he's rooted to the spot with a blank stare down at the table.)
I shouldn't be here.
(no one's... stopping him but himself...)
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--hah? I invited you here; don't get weird about it. I think he just likes tattoos or something. [ Right, assuming that M's commentary is the issue. ] I don't know how to give tattoos anyway; I'm not helping with that...
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[He turns back to Hei. He has more of an idea of what he's implying from his own experiences-- homeless, adrift, generally fucking alone. Didn't they argue about whether or not one or the other was a real person? His memory of that is still hazy.]
[His insight doesn't mean he knows how to fix it, though.] And you can't get rid of our shitty company. We've come to a mutual agreement while you were in the pound; you've been adopted. [He leans in slightly, faking a whisper,] I'm the dad.
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(a visible frustration, brow pinching.
god, is this something he's just going to have to accept? it's terrifying. he doesn't want to, he can't make the same mistakes he did in life and fixate on people who could die at any moment, but he doesn't want to be alone — what other options are there? what's he been left with, now that he has nothing?)
I don't want a dad or a tattoo.
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Why don't you both shut up?
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And don't just decide that you're the dad, either. [ His hand raises as if he's about to encase it in flame and make good on his earlier threat of hair destruction for the "princess" comment but it falters in midair once Hei speaks again, effectively stealing his attention. ] ... [ Abruptly Noctis moves, suddenly taking a heavy seat next to the dark-haired man and more or less boxing him into the undersized booth, denying him the ability to go for an easy escape. He nods to Midnighter; this is a success. ]
I owed you food. I'm making good. 'Sides, we both wanted to see how you were doing. This works out for me.
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[It is his birthday.]
[Midnighter reaches over, still not touching Hei, but putting his arm around the back of the booth, both casual and obvious in implication.] Yeah, you'll accept free food. A fucking burden to bear, I know.
[He looks over Hei's head-- not a difficult feat-- and pretends to whisper to Noctis,] Don't worry, he's just cranky because he hasn't finished his dinner.
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stabs the last corner of eel with a particularly aggressive bite before slouching to chew, letting himself get dragged.)
I'm doing fine. It shouldn't be a concern.
(ah-- he thought of something. that none of them are struggling with.)
How's the training going? It's an alright warm up.
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The training? Ah... I'm tired. [ Predictably. ] Would definitely be a hell of a lot easier if we didn't have such an early wake-up time... The rest is fine, I guess. Learning about all the long-range weaponry's pretty new.
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[Or the next time they get high off their asses. Whichever's first.]
Yeah, it's not that bad. Lemme know if you need any pointers; this shit's easy for me. It's like Band of Brothers, right?
[He watched one episode of that because he thought it'd be more to his interests from the title, and was sorely disappointed to find out it was a war movie. Who doesn't know the difference between the World Wars? This prick.]
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holds onto his empty plate, though, stifling a knee-jerk reaction that would lead to him cleaning it and likely the whole area if left to his own devices for long enough. too bad they're boxing him in.
looks from m to noctis, puzzled. then back to m.)
What's Band of Brothers? Did you work for them?
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[ He idly looks over the empty plate, feeling a quiet sense of satisfaction. Hei wouldn't have eaten all of it if he didn't like it a lot, right? Maybe he would... Anything beats singular protein blocks in the brig, probably, or the shitty food they're being served now. He mentally talks himself out of his own self-praise, sighing out quietly. ]
Maybe. I wouldn't sleep so damn often. If I wasn't tired. It's not like I'm slacking off... and Band of Brothers is a video game, not a company. [ There are so many things wrong here. ]
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And it's a TV show, you're both idiots. It's about the war we're going to. [No it isn't.] One of the worst ones in history of my planet, so be fucking careful, okay? This isn't gonna be like France. [And that wasn't a cakewalk either.]
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(skimming over the fact that he just asked if m worked for the fucking band of brothers. dear god in heaven someone eject capsule 14 into dead space.)
I don't watch television, it's a pollutant and I believe in formulating my own opinions of the world. (okay...) Tens of millions of soldiers and civilians died in trenches and out. This kind of warfare will be haunting; it was one of attrition. The more you know the better, I suggest you study up.
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But... then they both keep speaking. ]
... Yeah, I got it. Much as I can anyway. [ Because he feels like this is directed primarily at him. ] I left a war back home so it's not like I have no experience... The scale's different, though.
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I barely sleep; what the fuck else am I supposed to do?
[More importantly-] Your war- what's it like? Trenches? You're obviously not a soldier; have you ever been to the front lines?
[Not that Midnighter's ever soldiered either, but he's not thinking of his own total inexperience when it comes to understanding how waves of armies work or how he's only ever been a singular force fighting a singular force. He just thinks of Noctis getting his brains blown out and feels the anxiety creep up his spine. What does this kid know? What does he need to know? They only have so much time.]
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maybe that's telling when he doesn't speak and when he doesn't turn his head to look at noctis, keeping his eyes on and around the table.)
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It's not like that. It's been fought in stages but... now my country doesn't really have a force large enough for that style of combat. We've been at war for a long time but they took our crown city, finally, after faking peace talks like a bunch of damn cowards, so I've been on the run on the outside. Attacking their bases, taking out their soldiers where I can... A small group, just me and three other guys.
I wouldn't call it "back lines".
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Shit, kid, you did recon? Actually, that makes sense, it's perfect for your fighting style. If you get pulled on missions like that wherever we're going, let me know. I've done time with spy shit, I know the deal.
[AKA he trusts you to take care of yourself, really, he promises, he definitely does (let him look out for you).]
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(taking the chance to help where he can. he'd rather him be away from all of it, but if he's been picking things off one by one then surely he won't bite off more than he can chew.
hei's seen him fight extensively and there isn't anyone on board this ship he'd sooner rely on. m's reliability has also been proven, despite the lack of things to kill on board. the shapers were too easy, but soon he'll see them both in a very real, very stressful setting. suffice to say, he's ready to get off of this ship and make it happen — so much so that he speaks up again with his muted revelations.)
We'd all work well together.
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Ah... Mm, yeah, something like that. [ Very, very little like that, but it's growing increasingly clear to him that their understandings of war are different. He's never been walled in by mud with a slew of other soldiers, awaiting orders, and those he'll be in the trenches with have likely never fought the corrupted form of a daemon. ] I'd do that kind of work if I had to so I can bug you if it comes down to it.
... what, us three, though? [ He considers it. ] Yeah, probably, if Midnighter doesn't end up worrying too much. I bet he'd be like "good job, Hei" and then pull you back so he could kill-steal...
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[He's genuinely puzzled by the kid's critique, though.] The hell's kill-stealing? [He looks to Hei, 'do you know?' implicit in his expression.]
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(what the fuck is kill-stealing? thinks this over and comes up with the logical response.
sagaciously,) Stealing other people's kills.
(it's a real nuisance being this smart.)
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And yeah, it's stealing kills. I'm saying he'd jerk you back and then act like you couldn't do it yourself. I bet I'm right, too.
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