Voice; un: newt

[groupiedrifter]

Oh man, we have new blood again? Welcome aboard!

I've been saving these stickers for the occasion.

[He sends a snapshot of the stickers in question:]



If you're not a newbie and you really want one, I barter in any of the following: snacks, shiny rocks, manga, monster movies, cool figurines, cigarettes, conversations about tattoos, spaghetti or any type of noodle, cute dimples, cheek kisses, compliments about my boots, neat pictures of any manner of phyla, a tall can of pringles, pens with blue or red ink, caffeine patches, 80's or 90's band shirts, things that hover that shouldn't, fancy scissors, dinosaur stickers, or coffee.

Just come on down to the lab and get your very special prize!

If I'm bumping into tables and jumping six feet in the air because you so much as sneezed in my direction, it's because I'm temporarily blind and literally can't see my own hand in front of my face.

Ciao!

Comments

[groupiedrifter]

God, you sound like such an obnoxious Jaeger pilot. Especially the Australian ones.

[He doesn't say he's done the very thing Felix is talking about. Mostly because the time he'd maximized damage in a warzone, he'd been trying to intentionally blast his teammates to bits. (Only it wasn't him, was it? It was the fucking aliens in his head-)]

I'll pass, though, thanks. No offense, but you're super lame.

[BLIND, BUT NEVER LOW ON HONEST OPINIONS.]

[groupiedrifter]

Ugh, I knew I should have tried!

But y'know, we're not allowed pets on the Ximilia. How unfair is that?

[groupiedrifter]

... I did, maybe...

[Begrudgingly spoken as he nearly hits a table for the umpteenth time.

Joric, don't be all clever at him, he'll sulk.]

Kinda complicated! But also not complicated at all. The short of it is I changed my regret in the middle of my stay in the crew, and the orbs allowed it in exchange for some shitty consequence; I lose any one of my senses from time to time...

Where the hell did I put those stickers!

[... He's patting right next to them. So close.]

[groupiedrifter]

Well, now you know!

But don't let it be an excuse to make stupid choices. It's gotta be something changed that is so urgent, you'd be willing to take any consequence on yourself. [With a sigh, there's the sound of his hands fanning out and then slapping his legs as they're dropped.] In my case, I go blind from time to time. Or deaf. Or whatever sense my body decides on. Sometimes more than one; those are always the worst times.

Unless it's really, really worth it, it's not worth it, m'kay?

voice;

[groupiedrifter]

[Honestly, he's kind of gotten used to the sound of Ed's boots. He only flinches minutely when Ed touches his shoulder, thanks to being aware he's entered the room. He turns his head a little, though it's clear he's just pointing his ear at Ed more than his eyes.]

I'm cool! I'm good. I just — yanno, I ride it out. Sometimes listen to some music, or whatever... The only thing that really sucks is, I don't always know how long it'll last. Most of the time, it's just a few hours.

[groupiedrifter]

Are you kidding?

Absolutely, you can have three stickers. I appreciate someone who can have a little fun and not be so serious about shit like this! I'll have to ask Viv for some print-makers for shirts now. Maybe I'll make sad eyes at her until she gives in...

Come get some, though! You deserve it; I heard you were pretty involved with the last orb retrieval, so consider it a 'gold star' kinda situation.

[drawsblood]

[ Don't worry; it's a once in a decade thing. ]

Have things changed so much that you have new regrets?

[ He sighs and slides the stickers over towards Newt's hand. Not that he really wants one. The truth is, he doesn't see the point of them. ]

[groupiedrifter]

[Newton hesitates in his response, scooping up the stickers rather absently in his currently uncoordinated hands. He's not sure exactly how to respond, because... well, the nice thing about new blood is they don't know what happened, all those missions ago. At the same time... he's been told it's cathartic to talk about it by more than one person. Shame warring with guilt warring with cathartic admissions.

He fumbles around, peeling off the back of a sticker and putting it on Joric's shirt crookedly.]

Aaaah, yeah. For sure.

I learned that if I didn't undo my regret, I could wind up possessed by an alien hivemind for a better part of a decade and used to restart an extraterrestrial war on my planet.

[swordandshield]

[Well, he's definitely been called worse that before. Except the Jaeger part.

Now that second comment actually gets on his nerves more than the first. His voice snaps out childish at first but grows more menacing as he continues.]

I'm not lame, you're lame! Stickers! For fuck's sake. Like some sort of child...

I don't know what a Jaeger is but I can pilot just about anything the UNSC has produced and most alien craft. That gives me the right to be a little cocky. Most people--even soldiers--can't say that. I doubt you can.

[groupiedrifter]

[In a mocking little aside, obnoxiously copying Felix's voice:]

"I'm not lame, you're lame!"

[anyway]

But jokes on you, genius, you can't pilot a Jaeger without two pilots; otherwise, your brain would leak out of your ears. And since you seem like someone noooobody wants to hang out with, I'm guessing that means you'd never get a chance to be in one.

In fact, for someone who seems super proud of his skillsets, you sure seem ready to piss people off around you, which is extremely ineffective — both in a survivalist and improvisational sense.

[I would know, I did it on occasion.]

[swordandshield]

Joke's on you, asshole, my partner and I have been through worse and could easily pilot your dumb Jaeger...thing.

[Except it was right about at that point that he remembered that Locus had betrayed him. It sent his brain into a brief short circuit. And then a fit of rage hit.]

Fuck you! I've survived shit you couldn't comprehend! I am a survivor! And this will be a walk in the fucking park!

[groupiedrifter]

Your partner's a saint if he puts up with this on the regular.

And join the fucking club, pal! We'll all survived shit you couldn't comprehend!

If you want, I'll make that club stickers, too, while we're at it!

[TOO BLIND AND ANNOYED FOR THIS, FELIX.]

[swordandshield]

[YOU'RE NOT WRONG, TBH. Locus is the best partner...until he figures out you manipulated him the whole time and abused your partnership but let's not talk about it.]

I fucking doubt it. You're all fucking civvies here.

[Okay, not everyone but at this point Felix isn't paying attention to the words coming out of his mouth. He just doesn't care.]

Just don't ask me to save your ass when you inevitably get it into trouble, moron.

[groupiedrifter]

Civvies? Did you just call the Ximilia crew civvies?

Dude, you're oblivious. Do a little research, get some of the blood in that brain moving before you die from lack of oxygen. Just know that when I save your ass, it's gonna be super begrudgingly!

[swordandshield]

[You know the smart thing to do at this point would be to just hang up. But this is Felix. Felix is a petty little bitch. So Felix doesn't immediately "hang up" the conversation.

Instead, the feed switches to video and the image captures one obvious gesture: Felix's hand giving the middle finger.

Yeah, he's that kind of petty asshole. He finally disconnects and not only mutes the system for the longest amount of time it will allow for, but rips the ear piece off and throws it against the nearest wall.

Congratulations, Newt, you win the honor of being the first person to cause and endure Felix's (first) breakdown on the Ximilia. It's only been like a day...]

[drawsblood]

[ Furrowing his brow, he looks down at the sticker as if waiting for it to do something. When it doesn't he ignores it and refocuses on the conversation. ]

I only understand a few of those words, but starting a war is a good enough reason to change it.

[heroooic]

Oh I’m sure I can find a good use for these. [Finn was already envisioning how cool the hilt of a sword might look with some sticker action.]

When you say “temporarily” blind, how long we talking? I had to spend a long time without sight once, and I got pretty good at living without, if you need any practical tips.

[deaddrop]

Isn't it fair as long as none of us are allowed to have pets? It'd be unfair if someone got to have a cat and no one else got one.

It is kind of a bummer though.

[chrysology]

[Ed's, of all the footsteps are probably more unique, given the difference in weight with his flesh and auto-mail legs. He isn't trying to be loud or quiet, just walking normally though. The hand at Newt's shoulder gentle in showing he had arrived. He does feel that slight flinch, sighing and apologizing.]

Sorry. Didn't mean to startle you. Hm. So it's random? How long it lasts then. And when it happens. Anything you want me to keep going for you here while you wait it out for now?

[He isn't sure what exactly Newt had been working on if anything in the lab. If it might be anything more time sensitive or something that can't wait while he has no vision at the moment. He glances in front of Newt at the table to check.]

[dragonmount]

Blood and ashes.

[ that does sound incredibly awful. it doesn't sound like newt has control, or warning, over that happening, no matter how cheerfully he might talk about his current condition. rand's curious what could've been worth that price for newt; but, of course, that's hardly his business. something so urgent, you'd be willing to take any consequence on yourself — he knows the feeling. but it's not one he expects to encounter here, at least, and it's hard to imagine a wish that would supersede the one that brought him here. ]

I hear you. I wouldn't have thought the orb would take something for changing your mind. It didn't, to bring us here.

[ though he says that last sentence with a tinge of hesitation. it. it didn't do anything to them, did it? ]

[groupiedrifter]

[All of that, and he literally couldn't even see that middle finger!

You need to relax a little, my guy! Newt is +1 on this station needing a therapist. Pronto.]

[groupiedrifter]

Ah, yeah.

[Oops? He forgets that some of that is pretty foreign to other universes or planets (... or maybe Joric's a little airheaded, but we don't judge a good himbo around here, god bless). After a moment of gnawing his lip, he shrugs.]

Possession sucks. I mean, I was possessed for almost a year before the people on the station saved me; I owe a lot of them. But — yeah. Anyway. Too much information. Point is, changing your regret can really mess with you.

[groupiedrifter]

Aaaah, yannoooo, sometimes it lasts an hour, sometimes a day. Not usually anything past that. It's not something you gotta worry about, kid, though I'll always appreciate tips and tricks to MIA senses.

[You sound like a kid, anyway. Teens have a habit of showing up, and all!]

Why'd you end up blind?

[groupiedrifter]

It isn't fair that you're all crushingly good-looking, but you don't see me forcing everyone to put bags on their heads!

[TOTALLY THE SAME THING]

I used to have so many cool pets. I've had turtles and geckos and spiders and — a newt! Ha! Of course I did. My next pet is totally gonna be an iguana.

[drawsblood]

[ In this instance it's a lack of knowledge on aliens and intergalactic whatevers, but sometimes it's his himbo energy too. ]

And possession is when something else takes control of you, yes?

[ Been there, done that. Still doing that, actually. His regret is based around the fact he let it happen in the first place. ]

But your sight will return? Will you lose another of your senses then?