2.18 - Voice + Spam

[breakingmyheart]

[Private to Jesse]

I'm awake.

[Library filter & Gaheris]

I've been in a coma since the…tenth, I think. I'll be back at work today.

[Private to Derek]

I was in a coma. It's - just something that happens on the Barge, sometimes. Are you alright?

[Open Spam - Level 8, evening]

[Toshiko left the Infirmary pretty much the second her legs could support her weight, without waiting to report to a member of staff or get checked over (though Merlin noticed her going anyway and just made a note of it without passing comment). She knows she's fine; Derek's gift brought with it a new awareness of her own body and if she was there for any reason other than a Barge coma she's confident she'd know about it.

There's paint spatter in the hallways. She's not incurious about it but she doesn't really want to stick her head over the parapet and ask what happened - and a few minutes with her communicator answers the question anyway.

There's also paint on her door. Not deliberate, as far as she can tell, just glancing blows. Still, she finds a container in her room and fills it with hot water and lathered hand soap, and the evening finds her kneeling at the half-open door, working off the paint with a wet cloth.]

Comments

[megamind]

[ Megamind is tired. He rarely wears it on himself openly, but between injury, Edward, Chris, and a lot of long hours in the lab and working production, and then picking up Pitch... well, he's not exactly had a lot of time to breath. ]

[ He still finds times to walk the dogs, though. Today he didn't ask for Claire or Riddick to come help; he managed their evening walk and got them some exercise on the deck. Now? He's coming downstairs and... stops when he sees Toshiko in the hall, before he slowly approaches. ]

Hey. You're up again. How're you feeling after your nap?

[breakingmyheart]

Fine. I'm fine. Just clearing up this mess.

[She puts the cloth down and rocks back on her heels to look up at him - though she spares a brief glance to the dogs. She still looks human, of course, but there's something in her blood now that's much higher than them on a much older pecking order. They're uncomfortable, and she's not sure if she's just seeing it in their body language or if there's something else.]

Are you alright? You look exhausted.

[megamind]

Yeah, uh, we went a little crazy with painball. I might've, uh. Armed brainbots. [ and let a few carry buckets of paint. ] It was a fun flood, as they go.

[ The dogs aren't sure what to do; Digby's old as fuck and functionally immortal, and Angus is still a puppy; he flattens out, staying behind the other two. Megamind just pats Digby, unaware of the shift just yet. ]

I'm-- okay. Just...long hours. Got an inmate, training to do, work to do, things to make, Chris's damage to attempt to control, and regular chess-games with Edward when I can squeeze an hour to myself that isn't spent sleeping.

[breakingmyheart]

[ She nods her understanding. ]

Of course. Everyone's busy with... bracing for this, whatever it's going to be.

[ Except Tosh herself, but that's death wishes for you. ]

You more than most people.

[megamind]

[ He smiles a little; concerned, but it's not his place. Jesse's made it clear what he thinks of Megamind's input or help; he's done what he can. ]

I have more than most people have to give! I mean, all this fantasticness, it'd be criminal not to share with the masses.

[breakingmyheart]

[There's something a little strained about the quality of Tosh's answering smile. Obviously she could be helping with preparations in some capacity (in any capacity) but nobody's asked. Her genius - her own 'more than most people' - is just lying idle and the part of her that wants to help is dying by degrees.

Not that she expected anything else.]

You're right.

[megamind]

[ You don't get close to someone and not notice things like this; well, Megamind can -- but he's been learning, little by little, to be better than that. To notice these things. Other people's hurts. ]

You-- doing anything to get ready? For what's coming, whatever it is?

[breakingmyheart]

I have my training. Jesse's going to make sure I'm armed. Beyond that I don't think there's a lot I can do, this late on.

[And even though there's something new making itself known inside her - the pack instinct, the innate desire to stay alive for the sake of the whole she's now part of - it might never overpower the voice that says it'd just be easier for everyone involved if she went out to port and never came back.]

[megamind]

If there's anything else you need, just-- ask, okay.

[ Because he knows how well she asks for help, he can't help but offer. ]

[breakingmyheart]

You've already got me measured up for armour. [She shakes her head.] There's nothing else.

[Nothing else she can ask of him. Of anyone, really.]

[megamind]

If you're sure. [ He's not, but it's not like he's one to strong arm into -- anything. That's someone else's gig. ]

[ The dogs fuss a bit, and he pats Digby, before he speaks again. ]

I should get them back to the cabin. Lemme know if you figure anything out you could use before we leave.

[breakingmyheart]

[Honestly, she's pretty sure that they're all going to get turfed out in their sleep and they'll be lucky if they get to take anything other than the clothes they're wearing at the time.]

I will. Thank you.

[I love you, I miss you, I'm sorry - what's the point?]

[megamind]

[ He's afraid of the same thing; that all of this work will be for nothing and that he'll be sitting somewhere in his pajamas going "why, why, why". All this work and stress, for nothing. ]

...yeah. No problem.

Stay safe.

[ He gives a little snap of his fingers, getting the dogs moving again; they give her a wide berth, and he heads toward the door of his own cabin. Before long, there's the usual thrum on the eighth floor that means Megamind has his stereo on and all is normal. ]