ataraxion | video.

[When the camera turns on, Marty's adjusting it before plopping down in a seat clumsily (grumbling 'fuckin' jelly legs' or something to that effect); he's got dust and oil on him, a little toil and trouble with the clean-up assistance he's been performing on the Tranquility (after pilfering a gun from the Scylla, of course). He's bone-tired and there's a bit of sweat on his brow, but in that weariness he finds temporary redirection from the shitty stuff. He's noticed, of course, people fighting plenty. People looking very tense and unhappy. The halls are even quieter, somehow. And he doesn't fuckin' like it, not one bit. Now, he's not particularly attached to this ship--duh, he's only been here a month and it's a horrible place on top of it--but like hell does he enjoy misery as company. That saying can just go shove it.

I mean, he's barely even smoking it up, lately. In fact, he's stone cold normal right now and empty-handed. They're just clasped in front of him as he leans into his knees.]

You know what I need? A break. A cigarette break, but with more words 'n shit. We've been working our asses off. Keep up the fantastic work, and all that jazz, but how about something else for a second? Juuust a second. I know we've all been stressed out, what with the pirates and the freaky-ass murdering specter captains and the--uh--ship clamped on us like a tumor. So just... Hey, I haven't--really indulged in the fact that we're all from every corner of time and space and universes and all that cool sci-fi stuff.

[He licks his lips as he considers what to say, hands motioning in front of him like he's trying to catch his own thoughts.]

You guys, we have all kinds of worlds on board! Tell me some cool shit about your world. Or about you. Whatever. Can I get some cool facts? Some jokes? Stories? Hell, it doesn't even have to be anything outside of good ol' planet Earth. Or even directed at me. No serious or traumatic stuff needed, just... stuff. Hell, if you're a connoisseur of movies or you have a thing for panda facts or you wanna tell a story about your crazy family reunions.

[He suddenly seems a little more excited, a little less tired, shifting in his seat.]

This entry is now Marty's Share Fair. I'm stuck on a funky space ship and all, so I might as well know more than the bleak stuff.

....

Just don't pull a TMI, okay? I'm sure everyone sees enough floppy nethers after each jump. We don't need to know anything about them other that the promise that you'll find a towel posthaste. Thank you in advance.

(ooc: threadjacking heavily encouraged! it'd be fun to have people find common interests or things to relate to, and I just wanted a kinda free-for-all for the S.S. Solemn Worrywarts)

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

...I really don't think anyone would appreciate me rambling on about neuroplasticity.

[Or about a trillion other brain things that the average person would find useless.]

I used to study rat heads, though. For a living.

Hey, someone somewhere thinks you're awesome for your neuro-knowledge. I think it's pretty cool, anyway. Whether I get it or not, we all wonder about our own brains sometimes.

...

What did you learn from the rat heads?

I...really doubt that. [Since, y'know, brain surgery is no big deal or anything.]

But, uh. I've learned many, many things from the rat heads. Lots of boring things that most people don't really care too much about.

You underestimate my love for boring things. Please, by all means--tell me about rats. All my rat facts are kinda just things I gleam off cracked.com or wikipedia. Like--in Thailand, they sell roasted rats to the people out on the street.

I'm sure lab rats are a little neater than cooked ones, though.

Well. I've successfully taken the memories of a maze out of the brain of one rat and put them in another. That's probably neater than roasted rats for lunch.

... You can take memories out of one thing and put it in another?

[i'm not even high and what is this]

Yes. It's not that hard, really. I...probably shouldn't say much more about it, though. But it doesn't work on people. Our neurotopography is too complicated.

[SCIENCE!!!]

Oh--what, is it super top secret stuff?

I wanna learn about my neurotopography!!

Yes and no. Some of the experiments are very classified, others aren't but I...ah. Well. Explaining a lot of them would probably take a really long time and I doubt you want a lengthy lecture on neuroscience.

...But if you came by the Medbay, we could get a scan of your brain and I could teach you. I mean, if you wanted. Could probably use somebody else's scan too but. I'd think it'd be more interesting if it was your own.

[Oh, that's... enticing. But then he's torn between the conspiracy nut side of him that thinks of 101 possible Bad Choices that come from this Twilight Zone opener--while the other side thinks I want to know how my brain looks. Science can be cool sometimes, when it's not blowing up or releasing viruses or any other bad outcome that you'd see in the movies.]

That sounds kinda cool.

Count me in.

[What's he got to lose, his mind? He kinda left that back where he was nearly horribly murdered by torture redneck zombies.]

Great. That ah, sounds wonderful.

[Oh God God what is this, what is happening. What did she just get herself into.]

You can just, just come by the medbay whenever you'd like, then. That's where I usually am and I'm rarely, I'm rarely incredibly busy so. You don't have to worry about interrupting or anything.

So yes. I look forward to it.

[Aaaaawkward turtle.]

Aaaa, man, I'm not very good at picking dates.

[He scratches the back of his hairline, considering this.

With uncertainty--]

How about... tomorrow? At--...well, if you're there, I could always just swing by whenever. Unless you're a kinda punctual person who likes a schedule, I can break the norm and actually have a time.

[see he's bad at this]

I am...almost always there. Usually I am. Very punctual but. It doesn't really matter what time in this case. I doubt there will be a neurological emergency that will require my attention tomorrow. Or if there is...I'm certain Dr. Brink could handle it.

So tomorrow afternoon? That's a good...compromise.

[And so is she. She's all blushy and nervous (just like every other time she's talked to Marty, jeeze) Mostly because he just said date so now her brain is going into overdrive trying to figure out what kind of date this is now. Dealing with brains is easy. The people they belong to are so much harder.]

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