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

[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.

[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.

[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.

[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?

[groupiedrifter]

[Very attractive, bro, we secretly love himbo energy.]

M'yeah. Possession is when something else is in control of you.

[He shifts where he stands uncomfortably; it's a lot easier to feel that unclean, ugly feeling when you're blind — the precursor's claws in his mind, the way their beady black eyes could very well be lingering in the dark of his visionless eyes... But he shakes it off, sighing.]

Yeaaah, it'll return. I might lose another sense instead. Might not!

It's just what I gotta do, to make sure everything's okay when we're done here.

[drawsblood]

[ Joric isn't sure he could be so calm if his sight was suddenly gone. Maybe Newt waited until he was used to it before saying anything. But in a way, he finds Newt's actions admirably. ]

You are handling it well. If you need aid, I offer it.

[groupiedrifter]

Ha! You're such a softy.

[He gives Joric's shoulder a slap. Honestly, he must be getting better at dealing with it, if he's mastered the art of locating shoulders to smack.]

I've got it aaaall under control! I'm already learning the map of the Ximilia when I can't see, so sooner or later I'll be, like, a superhero at it! Maybe even be able to kick someone's ass blindfolded, or something! You never know!

[He's about to walk into the wall next to the door.]

[drawsblood]

[ His lips part to warn Newt on the impeding collision but you know what? He's going to see how this plays out. It's no different than how children in his land are allowed to hurt themselves in order to learn what not to do. ]

We'll have to see.

[groupiedrifter]

We'll have to — hey, that better not be a dig at my bl—oof!

[And thus the sound of him running into the wall is a dull, defeated thud.]

Shit! Goddamn!

Dude!

[HE KNOWS YOU SEE THIS WALL BRO]

[drawsblood]

You sounded confident in your other senses.

[ Deal with it. ]

It looks as though you require more time to grow accustomed to them.

[groupiedrifter]

[............ ugh he can't even dispute that]

I'll grow accustomed, though! It's not gonna require much more time, okay.

[He rubs his face, specifically his poor Schnauze.]

That was just a teeny tiny misstep, that's all.

[drawsblood]

In the meantime, you can reach out in front of you with your hand first. Until that period of time runs out and you are adjusted, of course.

[ This is his attempt at helping. ]

[groupiedrifter]

Gee, thanks! I would have never thought of that myself.

[/sarcasm

But he does, in fact, put his hands out in front of him now.]

Well? C'mon! Let's go walking to the mess hall. All this talk's got me hungry.

[He may or may not be roping Joric into this because he's a little nervous being alone and blind at the same time. One or the other, but not both, mkay?]

[drawsblood]

[ His eyes narrow, but he makes no comment about the sarcasm and instead starts off towards the food. He'll put up with plenty if there's food at the end of it. ]

Do you remember how to get there? This would be a good test of your memory.

[groupiedrifter]

... I think so. Maybe. Yeah!

[He bites his lip, one hand carefully following the walls.]

It's through the sunlight room, so the only danger is, like, tripping on some rocks.

But I think I could manage. I've lived here for over a year now, so you'd think it'd be a walk in the park.

[... kind of literally-]

[drawsblood]

I believe you can do it, as long as you remain cautious of your surroundings.

[ So maybe Newt could stop talking quite so much and listen to what's around him. Perhaps that's just wishful thinking on Joric's part. ]


[ ooc: hey! i was thinking this could be a good wrap spot as we head into the next mission. ]