piper90 | Brand New (OTA) [video]

[Brand has been kidnapped, disarmed, and tortured with bad slide shows, electric shocks, and small talk. Today can officially get fucked. At least fallout from the fucking "Go-Away bombs" hasn't suppressed his bond to Rune -- he can feel him just fine, even if he's not entirely sure what to make about the emotions he's getting. But that can be resolved and soon as he fucking finds Rune, which would be easier if he had any fucking idea of where to start.

The sensor in front of the Mess only gets a scowl, and Brand stalks off to find another place to hole up and try and get in touch with Rune. It doesn't take him long to find something that looks like a corporate break room threw up on itself.

When an unfamiliar face appears on the network, it's wearing a near-homicidal expression, because that's just how Brand looks when he doesn't fucking know where Rune is.]

Where the [BEEP] is Rune Saint John?

[Do you answer this angry stranger about one of your fellow New Hires? Or do you try to find out more?]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ Woah. He wasn’t expecting his chronic foot-in-mouth condition to be defended by anyone, and Robbie’s doubly shocked to see that it’s Wash. ]

Hey, thanks man. Just don’t go catching my cooties if you don’t have to.

[ He isn’t the least bit offended by being called an idiot in this situation. ]

[He's not sure why he's doing it either, but only because he can't remember doing damage control for Tucker's mouth on more than one occasion.]

[Mouthy idiots are just dumb and mouthy. There are worse things and worse people.]

Look, on your end, keep in mind everyone showing up here for the first time? They're just as stressed as we were. Maybe even more so, depending on who they are and where they came from.

If it was one of the worst days of your life you might just want empathy.

[A weird thing to argue when you're generally a cold-hearted disaster, but it's coming from a place deeper than what's on the surface, from the older, wiser Wash locked away.]

[And it's well-meaning. What he's gathered of Robbie so far is that he probably doesn't actually mean to upset anyone.]

[The words are firm, not harsh:]

There's a time and place. Let them breathe.

Edited 2020-12-29 03:03 (UTC)

[ He's quiet and avoiding eye contact with the camera while listening to Wash, but it's clear that he is actively listening.

When Wash is through, Robbie is more cautious than normal with his actions and speech. Honestly, he's afraid to even breathe too loudly because he doesn't want it to be taken as a sigh. ]

I know it's not a universal, but I've always wanted to be treated normal when things were bad and, yes, that includes joking around. Sometimes it helps when people don't fan the flames or get you to laugh. It's not a universal, I know, but I'm not the only one who's wired this way.

Then test the waters first and see if you can help them calm down. And pay attention to how agitated they are. People who are visibly agitated and screaming probably aren't going to be the ones that jokes will put at ease.

[Wash himself isn't sure where this is coming from, this knowing about people, this caring about their state of mind. It feels like it's coming from some deep well of...something. Some other part of himself.]

[And Robbie is a kid. Oh he is so very much a kid. The compulsion to offer guidance is running strong and coming from the same deep place. He can't remember it, but he's good at this. In the present. When he has his memories. Because his adult friends are still figuring things out. This is that but...younger.]

[Also he remembers being that young and how much of an awkward disaster he'd sometimes been. Even when he was older. He'd been chastised many a time for putting his foot in his mouth when he'd made the top squad in Freelancer.]

I get that you're trying to relate to people in the way you know how, and in the way that would work for you. But some people will need something else.

Edited 2020-12-31 03:59 (UTC)

Ah... you'd actually be surprised about that. Or maybe not - I'm starting to wonder if I got lucky with the second universe I landed in, and maybe this one's more like the universal constant than the first two?

[ He pauses and then backs the theory up, because Robbie realizes he may not be making sense exactly. ]

What I mean is, the whole class clown thing is always a little hit-or-miss, but it's usually more hit than it has been here. I'm starting to wonder if I'm from a weirder-than-normal world. Usually, nobody tries to bite my head off unless they have a reason to hate me.

Is either your world or the second world you were in as welcoming and friendly as this one?

[He figures that might be the difference.]

The first world is my world so... no? I don’t know. It’s hard to judge it as “friendly” or not when it’s what you grew up with. I think Earth’s okay. It’s crazy, but everywhere’s crazy.

The second is definitely not like this one. Maybe some planets or in the past, but not where and when I landed. This place isn’t in the same galaxy.

[ In the interest of fairness to all worlds, Robbie will differentiate between them more clearly. ]

I don’t think the second world is was that impressed with mine, but they think bubble baths are barbaric so it’s not like they’ve got refined tastes.

Still this place sounds like a downgrade.

For some people that downgrade is pretty bad.

I'm the last person who should be arguing this when I'm not exactly a people person myself...

[He has had his bouts of being outright evil, but he's starting to un-entrench himself from that thinking. He's been told he evolved past it, even if he can't remember that.]

But sometimes people just need empathy. They need people being comforting.

Brand New (OTA) [video]

Re: video

Re: video

Re: video

Re: video

Re: video

Re: video

Re: video

Re: video