ataraxion | Audio | username: fleetside

Entry tags:

aj harris,
nill

Audio | username: fleetside

Before you go flinging shit all over me, I know there's worse to worry about right now, but if any of you knows how to sew and has the cloth to spare I'll find some way to pay you back.

These blue rugs make shitty ponchos and unlike some of you lucky bastards I never got more than one set of space pajamas. I'll take spares, too, if that's all there is to go around.

[AJ's voice is utterly defeated right now, but then she's been wearing one of those bolts of blue alien fabric that had been collected from a month or two ago, the badly folded likes of which have been covering the shredded back-side of her crew-issue jumpsuit for the last two days. She's been feeling about as comfortable as a cat in a festive sweater.]

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Now you see why I never bother wearing 'em. [Maybe not helping her feel any more comfortable, but... he doesn't like hearing that tone. So, in an attempt to cheer her up, he's going to try something that he doesn't often do (perhaps for understandable reasons): joke around a little bit.]

[Seriously, Algidus? Seriously? AJ is at least in the vicinity. She doesn't deign to respond to him over the network, but she picks up a clod of earth and quick-times it around the camp to huck it at him.]

Look how good that turned out for you!

[She's not especially furious, but the implication he's leaving is downright humiliating and she's overboiled from the last few days' incredible stress.]

[Well, at least her tone doesn't sound so sad anymore, though he's not sure if this is any better. Algidus squawks and scowls, really not appreciating having dirt tossed at him. Now he's remembering why he doesn't try to joke more often.] Hey, easy with that, not while I'm healing! Ever heard of a thing called infections? They're real... and they're not pretty.

[Now the alien huffs, rubbing at his flank gingerly. A moment later he gives AJ a look out of the corner of his eye, this one less contentious and more... dare say... apologetic?] I wasn't trying to suggest that you should strip down, just so you know. I was just... trying to... you like to joke around some times, so I... never mind. It was a stupid remark. Never mind. Forget it.

You wouldn't get any uglier, [she's about to say, but his apology cuts her short. Damnit, Algidus, you have to stop disarming her like that.

AJ pulls a loose fold of the uncomfortable, nearly carpet-like material down again and tightens her belt across it. At this rate she could use a bandanna and a spectral cowboy hat to complete her look, but all she's worried about is keeping her own backside covered.]

Joke about other people, [she instead demands. This is serious.

like her fashion faux pas trumps his delicate balance between health and death. It's amazing the change a few days can bring around.]

[The caring one day and callous the next pattern of behavior that she's putting Algidus through would be enough to wear on him were he not toeing this balance; as it is, it grinds even more painfully than normal. The alien's mandibles flare out and hold there, but rather than give any sort of belligerence he simply gives a dull nod, which will be about the only response AJ gets from him in this regard.]

[She adjusts the cinch on her poncho awkwardly, feeling ill at ease with his silence. The way that he looks like he's about to speak, with those dark tines flared, makes her want to wait, but it also makes her bristle.

In the end, smoothing reflexively along with the grain of the uncomfortable fabric she's wearing, she gives a snort and shakes her head. Loose strands of hair fall from the slap-dash ponytail that she is almost always trying to keep from falling apart.]

Come on, there's plenty of other people to make fun of. We should go watch the smart-asses out near the wall working on the generators. Easy to do, might see if they're making any break-throughs we can jump in on for, you know.

[Around here she is going to say nothing of their own project--mostly stymied, unfortunately--because she knows it's not one that people will take seriously, but is one that Algidus holds very dear to whatever constitutes his alien heart.]

[Algidus cocks his head to one side slightly, mandibles still flared, before they settle back against his jawline as he shakes his head and grumbles under his breath.] Wasn't making fun of you, already said that. [Another small pause, as the alien casts a reluctant look in the general direction of the wall. It's not a bad idea at all, and it's normally one he would be all up for, but...] ... You don't think they're going to realize that certain parts of me are... a bit skinnier than normal, do you?

We're all losing weight, [AJ snorts, then casts a look up at him that looks careful, moreso than usual.]

Chances are good that everything that had its head screwed on backwards came at us during that fire. Let's take a walk outside of camp. [She had heard the bitter vitriol at a low boil in the back of his voice, and knows that it will lead to worse things if she tries to force him in front of people. Better to play to his strengths... and better to get them a little further from the constant ebb and flow of unmanageable little feelings and memories that leak through the cracks around here.]

[Algidus tucks his head back, scowling. He wishes losing weight was the worst of his worries, and not the fact that, y'know, he's still in the process of regrowing skin that was painfully burned off. He doesn't make any rebuttal, though; when he looked back over he had seen that careful look, and it took him off guard. Instead he simply gave a nod that was just as tentative. Even if things were really awful for him right now, he didn't want to fight with her...]

Yes... alright. We should be careful though... certain parts of my armor are not what they once were, and while I don't plan on turning my back on any slavering maws, I don't want to undo what healing my body has managed. [That, and he doesn't want anything to happen to her, either... but he's still feeling a little hesitant to voice those concerns. Despite the risks, though, getting out of the camp sounds good. He can only handle being in close proximity to so many people for so long before he needs to catch his breath, so to speak.]

[The awkward airs between them are palpable. AJ fidgets with her poncho in the meantime, rolling one shoulder in a very feigned attempt at nonchalance. If he can't be chill, she'll try for it.]

Don't stress about it. Me and a bunch of people manned the walls the entire time the things were coming out. By this point I might as well shred my belt I could put so many notches in it to toot my own horn, you know? I'll take the front, you can cover my back. You did it for me before so it's my turn anyways.

[Algidus straightens up slightly, giving a nod that could be considered as, of all things, shy. Being melted down to his underbody has really thrown him out of sorts; his only consolation is that not very many people saw him when he was completely exposed, but given how hot the planet is and how limited the water supply is, this is... not all that much better. Maybe getting out of camp is a better idea than he expects; then he won't have to worry about feeling like he has so many eyes on him, at least.

As he follows AJ he scrounges around for a different topic of conversation, anything to take his mind off the general state of things as they are now.] Being out at the wall... quite a rush, no? Probably the only time these simpering fools will thank me for being the way I am... not that I expect any of them to actually do so, feh.

You mean people aren't thanking you for keeping them cool just by being in your shadow? [AJ gives him a sympathetic grin.]

I know someone who you should talk to, some time. Old human, sort of barrel-shaped. He used to be an admiral of his own space fleet, or so the gossip says. He was the one who whipped people into putting the wall up to begin with; I bet he might see how valuable you are to everyone surviving out here even if nobody else does.

[audio] un: algidus

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