ataraxion | 005

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005 | video

[ John's dressed down for once, shirt missing and all. The Grim Reaper tattoo on his inner arm is visible, scythe and all, where most people's nanites are -- his are visible on the other arm. One hand is beneath his head and the other is holding the camera at a bit of an odd angle; he's laying down, apparently in bed. Despite that, he doesn't look like he's gotten a lot of sleep. ]

So. [ He starts, stops; clears his throat to make himself sound a little more awake. ] This place is hell, but we manage to relax sometimes. How do you all do it? [ There's a pause, considering, and he adds: ] Other than getting drunk.

[ That's not going to help him, considering he can't anymore. At the end of the day, what John needs is for nightmares of dead teammates and monsters in the dark to stop haunting him, of the dead on the ship that he could have (should have) been able to help. But for now... he'll take what he can get. Not that he necessarily wants everyone knowing he can't relax. ]

Call me curious, I guess. I would've bet on more nervous breakdowns.

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[She does wonder at the pause, but they've had this conversation before and it had got awkward when she'd questioned too much, so she leaves it.]

Okay.
Just let me know when you've got some time.

Looks like I've got a card game and a swim lined up, but I'm free other than that and patrol.

Busy schedule.
I'm off in 2 hours.
Unless you want more time.

[Mentally prepare himself and all that.]

2 hours is fine.

Okay.
Same place.

[Two hours later and she's in the 004 gym, dressed in workout clothes and doing some light stretched. Everything's set up the way it usually would be for one of these sessions, her comms propped up on a chair for the music, mats and equipment cleared to leave a big enough space for them to work in, dogs settled down in various spots around the place. But it's been a couple of months, and there's differences, written in her careful movements as she works through her warm-up, and literally written on her skin.]

[ He's cracking.

He feels like he is, at least -- like grief and anger are breaking through, his attempt at finding ways to relax and sleep only bringing them to the forefront. John takes the long way to the gym on 004, the cramped step-ladders between floors providing a way to gather his thoughts with a methodical hand-foot-hand-foot pattern pounding through his brain with the beat of his heart.

When he enters the gym, he makes a beeline for Chubbs, giving the chihuahua a few strokes to try and helping him settle back into something approaching normal. It means he doesn't notice the new ink until he turns, and then his heart speeds back up -- but at least this time it's for a far more positive reason. ]

New tattoos? [ It's a stupid question and his voice sounds (stupid, he thinks) pleased, surprised. ]

[Taylor notes Reaper coming in, but he doesn't say anything so she carries on with her stretches. There's a brief pause when he speaks, and it's weird, because she never really plans this part. When someone sees the ink she got done that represents them, how they'll react. The only one she's experienced so far has been Oxford, and that situation had been different.]

A few.

[An understatement, but getting shot and the long month of healing followed by the unexplained recovery during the jump-- she'd wanted to feel in control of her body again. She'd wanted to mark what was important while she still could.

She rolls her shoulders out, takes a few steps towards him.]

Gives Noah something to do.

I was thinking about getting another one. Unit symbol.

[ It seems less silly, now; Tyke's tattoos all mean something, and if a tattoo of the RRTS logo is all her can do in memorial to his fallen unit, then it's at least something.

John stretches his arms out quickly, watching as she approaches. ]

Can I see?

I'll vouch for him, you're worried about him seeing your healing.

[Noah knew about her pathos; she knew about his ability. He was friendly and open, more than a lot of people she knew, but he could keep a secret. She trusted him, and she'd trust him with Reaper.

He also did good work, and if Reaper wants to see it, she's got no problems showing him. She catches the bottom of her shirt and pulls it up over her head easily, letting him see the rest of the collection of new tattoos she's got, the yellow orchids winding up her right flank, the heraldic eagle spanning under her breasts.]

One on my leg, too.

Not so much worried about him seeing as I am worried about him asking questions or telling the wrong person.

[ John reaches to scratch at his shoulder; if Tyke trusts him, so should he, but it's not that easy. Never has been-

Oh. And she's pulling her shirt off. Uh. ]

That's-- [ not what he meant when he asked to see, but Reaper clears his throat. ] They're good.

[Taylor pulls a bit of a bemused face.]

Said I'd vouch for him.

[Because asking questions or talking about it was exactly what she'd meant with that, not something like freaking out over seeing what Reaper could do. But she still understands and never really expects her word to be enough for people - she'd just wanted Reaper to have that avenue, if he wanted ink. Though there is another option.]

Or you could get him to sketch it up and I'll do it.

[She shrugs, a bit, and then seemingly without any incentive holds her arm out - because she realises retroactively that's what Reaper had meant about seeing, though she doesn't really care about the fact she's now shirtless from the misunderstanding.]

That could invite more questions.

[ Still, it's not a no -- it's said more contemplatively than anything, because John trusts Tyke enough to do it and he knows he can handle it. Her arm's out now though, and the Grim Reaper is in front of him; he smiles a little, traces over it with his eyes before carefully stroking around the skeleton's head with a fingertip. ]

He does good work.

[ Reaper approves. ]

Different kind.

[Because she found Noah unpredictable, a lot of the time, but she knew what kind of topics he tends to veer down. If Reaper wants a tattoo drawn up for Taylor to ink on him, Noah's questions are going to be more about their relationship than anything Reaper might be hiding.

But she's distracted from maybe explaining that by Reaper touching her arm - and it's an unsolicited touch, unpersuaded touch, the fact Reaper's done it at all is enough to take note of, let alone what he was actually touching. There's the unbidden shiver of goosebumps along the skin of Taylor's forearm, thoughts derailed for a moment before she drags them back and latches onto the first words that come to mind to say.]

Think I've been getting more bones done than he'd like. He was excited about the orchids.

[There were bright roses mixed in with the skeletons on her arm, but the yellow of the orchids is what had had Noah really pleased.]

[ He notes the goosebumps, trails after them with a swipe of his finger (one could say it's coincidental but it isn't, not for him) and with his eyes before he really recognizes that he's doing it. His fingertips don't pull away when he notices, though they return to her tattoos, chuckling a little as he taps one of the roses. ]

Wonder how he'll feel about sketching a snake with weapons, then.

[ Not that it matters. If the artist loves what they do, the subject is sometimes less important. ]

[The stroke of his finger really just has the sensation spreading, means she has to suppress something a lot closer to a shiver, hold still like it doesn't mean anything. She isn't sure it does. Just keeps her eyes down, watching his hand on the tattoo rather than looking up at him.]

Snake could be colourful.

[Not like some kind of rainbow. Just different greens, maybe. But she didn't know if that was what Reaper was after, and that was what was important, in any tattoo.]

He won't mind.

[That's said slightly more like a reassurance on the idea, glancing up at him. Noah won't mind sketching it, and Taylor won't mind tattooing it.]

It could be.

[ Right now John has a feeling he might agree with her on anything, almost drunk on the fact that he can touch someone when it's not out of instinct and not hurt them, even if it's just with one finger. That finger traces the flowers a little more and then he pulls his hand away, belatedly realizing just what it is he's doing. While he doesn't step back, he goes offer Tyke a crooked smile. ]

I'll have to talk to him, I suppose.

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005 | video

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