Video | welcome, hallo, buenos días, ohayō, etc, etc! | UN: Newt

[groupiedrifter]

[Newt comes shuffling into view on the screen, holding a cup of coffee in his hand with a bag of what seems to be Sour Patch Kids harrowingly hanging out from beneath the pinky finger of the very same hand. Disheveled but more than happy to provide his services after dragging himself out of bed, he taps his knuckle on the chalkboard beside him — one that used to be Hermann Gottlieb's, may he rest in peace (in a not dead way — may he rest in peace on a beach or something while wholly alive and thriving).]

Noticed an influx of new and kinda-new faces over the last few days or weeks or whatever.

So here's my handy dandy welcome board! Recently updated, to keep with the times.

Read it over and get a feel for how this place goes; I'm gonna finish off this coffee before I take any questions.

[As he takes the world's most obnoxious-sounding sip and burns his tongue, here's the board in question:]



[And then, after a bit of time, he turns the board over to the other side:]



[No worries, current crew, if you can't get one of those introduction papers in person!

Because he's attached them in file format, too.]



[And in case you wanted a text format copy:

Name:
Age:
Birthday:
Favorite color:
Favorite food:
Favorite subject:
Favorite toy:
Favorite animal:
Favorite candy:
Favorite activity:
Favorite place:
Favorite book:
Favorite TV show:
Favorite movie:
I am good at:
I want to learn:
Least favorite subject:
Place I want to go:
If I could make one wish, it would be:
If I could have one superpower, it would be:
This is what I want my teacher to know about me:

(Have at it — threadjacking is encouraged).]

Comments

[groupiedrifter]

[Sorry buddy, he can just be like that sometimes.]

!!!! YES! Come to my dojo, my man!
Or, uh, my lab. Come to my lab. I'm usually here if I'm not jamming out in the Ximusic Room!!!
(though expect awesome music in either place 🤘🤘🤘🤘🤘)

[durante]

The lab with awesome music playing. I can find that easy enough.

[plus, they figure that with the picture of their face up there, anyone looking for them will be able to find them easily enough.

even if it means they'll be hovering around the lab areas nervously, trying to not bother anyone's work but still trying to find their destination. oh, why did they go and agree to this?]

[groupiedrifter]

[Don't worry, it's not too big a place — in fact, it takes very little time to notice the... uh... hectic music playing in the distance. He wasn't lyin' about the vibes, okay? But the moment Newt notices the very obvious fiery clock-person, he turns the music down considerably before hopping to his feet and rushing over.]

What's up? Dante, right?

[Wait, how tall are they?

Because Newt is 5'5" and he can't bear another tall person on this station.]

Oh, you look so fucking cool, dude. What a badass aesthetic. Love the suit bringing it all together.

[durante]

[sorry to Newt but Dante's a few inches taller, somewhere around 5'8" and 5'9", and the exact value is something the writer will calculate later while staring at game screenshots cursing the writers for not saying. they are definitely more slight, though, so absolutely not the type to lord a scant few inches of height over the other.

it also helps that the compliment knocks their theoretical legs out from under them, given how rarely they get praised for anything except work.]

< Shucks, you really think so? >

[what a nice guy, genuinely. probably just curious about the prosthetic. only forty percent likely to want to take it apart.]

< It's nice to meet you, genuinely. >

[see, the thing is, Newt, Dante doesn't have a voice - they tick instead, a series of sounds just like a clock but louder, and yet the earpiece offers an understanding of what it means. an intent, placed right inside the mind, to go off of.]

[groupiedrifter]

[Oh, be still his beating heart!

Sure, they're taller than Newt, but he can mourn this fact later on. More importantly, he does a little quick-paced walk around Dante, looking at that fiery mass on their head with practically twinkling eyes. Oh, the less literal gears in his squishy human-shaped head are turning!]

It's cool meeting you, too!

Man...! How do you stop your clothes from lighting up, anyway?

And what are your clock pieces made out of, if they don't melt? On a scale of Mercury to Tungsten, what melting point are we talking here? Does that apply for the rest of you, too? You're not even breaking a sweat!

[durante]

[thankfully, they just told Yujin this, so it doesn't feel weird to follow it with:]

< It's not actually hot, just warm. But I assume it'd be difficult to melt in the first place, or it wouldn't be a reliable prosthetic. >

[which. they expect will probably lead into yet more questions. unfortunately, they're as in the dark as he is, since they're not feeling like letting someone take their actual head apart to discover how it functions. what if they can't get it back together again? no, best to leave well enough alone.]

[groupiedrifter]

[Newt leans in further, tippy-toeing (as if that gives him much height at all).]

A prosthetic?! Are you saying your head's a replacement?

Like, you had a normal head at some point?! Can I touch it, or would it totally burn someone outside of yourself? [He is fully ready to accidentally burn himself on the theory either way.]

[durante]

< I don't think it'll burn you. Thanks for asking first. >

[half the Sinners weren't used to personal space when it came to them. and so, to oblige, they bend down a little so that Newt can pass his hand through. it feels no stronger than body temperature, warm but nothing that would burn a person, light a cigarette, anything a fire could be for.]

< But yeah, it's a replacement. >

[for now is in the back of their mind. their real head is still out there, but who knows where.]

1/2

[groupiedrifter]

[groupiedrifter]

... Listen. Despite the fact that I usually get in trouble for half the stuff that comes out of my mouth, know that I'm asking with the totally nicest, bestest intentions, but —

How the unholy fuck do you lose a head and still live long enough to get a replacement.

[durante]

< ...You remember how on the information form, I put down that I have amnesia? >

[yeah. it's all a muddle, buddy. from their body language and mental tone, though, they're not offended by him asking. it's a sensible question that begs an answer, when things like that aren't possible here.]

< I know that the technology where I came from can do something like that. But I couldn't tell you how. >

[groupiedrifter]

... Man. That sucks.

But I kinda know how that feels... Not that I've had amnesia about myself like that! I've just had memories I couldn't get to for a while. [Wow, that sounds really weird out on its own, huh? But he also isn't sure talking about that situation is the best idea for a first meeting.] Anyway, I hope you get those memories back, dude. Is that one of the reasons you're here? Part of your deal with the orbs, or something?

[durante]

< Something like that. >

[even now, the reason feels like something they need to keep quiet, down and down in their chest. because how do you explain that a concept you can't even define made your entire body jerk towards it on instinct, bone deep and just as vital?]

< It'll come back eventually. Or I'll stumble across what will make me remember. >

like their own head.]

< And in the meantime, I'm here. >

[groupiedrifter]

Of course it will!

[He gives Dante's arm a little punch.

You know, one of those friendly obnoxious ones that not so much hurt as perplex.]

And you've got us to help you do that! You're here with a crew who are totally supportive, so you don't have to worry about asking for a hand or company or anything like that. Keep your little clock brain busy mission to mission, and work hard, and I'm sure you got this.

[PEPTALK O' CLOCK.

For the clock-headed person.]