itstopped | Re-Entry 16: Video

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Re-Entry 16: Video

((Backdated to before Racetrack's disappearance, sometime after this thread.))

[Private to Trip, CC: Dean]

[Honestly, as remarkable as what's happened is, it's almost as remarkable that Felix is the first one to notice. He just really doesn't spend that much time in his own quarters anymore. But he stops by to pick something up, and that's when he notices the changes. Specifically, this one, which is why the camera is currently on what looks like a very standard shower.]

...Trip? [If he sounds completely bewildered, it's only because he is.]

[Friends filter (if you think you're on it, etc. Including you, Morgana.)]

I, um... I graduated today. [He still doesn't really sound like he believes it.] And for those of you who know what I was thinking about why I hadn't, I think I was right, because I'm not really sure what I'm going to do next. But... whatever happens, I wanted to say... thank you. To all of you. You deserve to hear that.

Actually, that's not entirely true. I do know one thing I'm going to do next. [He smiles slightly.] The CES showed me Picon once, just once... I'm going to go to the pub, get a bottle of something, and go sit there until it shows up again. Feel free to join me.

[Private to Racetrack and Claire Bennet, separately]

I'd like to ask you a question.

[Public]

[And this one is from the CES, later, when he seems to have found both his bottle and his world. He's sitting on a long stretch of beach, a low grassy hill rising behind him, the wind and salt in his hair; and even though the sun brings out all his imperfections -- how pale he's become under the olive tones of his skin, the shock of gray hair at his temples, the dark rings under his eyes -- he looks younger and softer than he ever has before. He takes a drink from the bottle and rubs a hand over his mouth.]

Does anyone know... has anyone ever stayed on this ship without becoming a warden?

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Yeah. You were the best and brightest humanity had to offer before this.

Small amounts. And then I burn them. They won't be there long enough for toxicity to be a problem.

[That may be either optimistic or pessimistic, depending on one's view of things, but this is not something Felix and his watch are bothering to take measure of. He stays coherent long enough to remember to hit the stop button when the doors close. After that everything is a blur of need and desire, reassurance and release, the comfort of pure physicality. Maybe it's a reminder too, whether Dean means it to be or not, of the other things he won't ever feel again if he chooses what he's always meant to choose.

However much time passes, whatever the intention, he's left grinning and breathless, hands fumbling a little as he puts himself back together. He wipes his mouth, tucks his shirt back in, toys with his clothes and his hair and his pockets until he feels presentable again. He takes a deep breath and lets it out, still slightly flushed and bright-eyed, energized.]

So... CES?

You're still talking about ingesting lead and cadmium. [Zane, bro, he was only into the medical thing for a little while, but he knows that's a bad idea.]

If you knew the amount of pewter I've ingested over my life, you wouldn't be as worried.

[ nevermind that he actually let himself get lead poisoning by leaving it in his stomach. He doesn't do that anymore. ]

Cadmium by itself is another of the metals I want to test. And chromium. Those four.

[Dean isn't much one for manipulation, at least not intentionally; he wanted to, Felix wanted to, so they did. It's the kind of pleasure, the kind of comfort Dean is perfectly willing to give and take equally, perfectly comfortable with.

Then Felix is putting himself back together and Dean isn't much better off but he does feel better; he feels like he can breathe again, really this time, like his feet are back on solid ground. He grins at the question, wiping his hand down the thigh of his jeans again, and reaches to punch the right button this time, clearing his throat.]

Guess we'd better. Need to make sure it ain't disappeared on us. [This time it is all joking, and when they reach the deck, Dean is even still feeling good enough that he doesn't balk like he normally does. He sticks close, but he seems to be able to stand on his own now, to trust Felix will be there when he looks back. He does. He is.]

Did you ever figure your shit out in the library?

Sort of. I still need to talk to Racetrack, but... [He hesitates, takes a breath. He hasn't talked about this with anybody yet, but he's gone to the library to see for himself, and what he'd found had been better than he'd even been hoping for.

He sounds, suddenly, a little more animated, a quiet controlled note of excitement entering his voice.] I don't know why we didn't think of it before. The library has millions of books, and they're completely beyond the scope of any one world. I don't know Earth well yet, but I know you don't have any volumes on-- I don't know, quantum robotics or exobiology, but I read both while I was... [A robot.] ...studying.

There are a hundred worlds represented here, so I thought... why not a dead one? Why not ours?

Shut up, limp dick.

[He's quiet for a long moment, studying the screen, eyes narrowed. There's a lot to consider here: the danger to the ship, the danger to Zane, the potential benefits against the potential consequences.

Then again, if he's going to stay, he needs work to do, and this seems like a pretty easy short-term project. An interesting one, too. And if there is a danger, it's better to know than not. He would tell Charles now, he thinks, where he might not have before. He certainly knows there are other people he can talk to now.]

Okay. I'll see what I can do.

[Yeah, okay, moment over. He rolls his eyes openly and hangs up.]

...it's stupid.

[ She's a little embarrassed by it. Her deal. ]

[It's the fact that Felix hasn't told Dean anything about it that has him asking now; in fact he put him off last time, which Dean had honored at the time, willing to let Felix keep his privacy. Especially if it involves the library.

But now they're back to it and, ironically, Felix is talking about something that had occurred briefly to Dean in passing but not something he'd have ever followed up on himself, for several reasons. Beginning with he wouldn't know for sure what is from Felix's world, anyway, and ending with the fact that Dean may be passable at research when he needs to be, but he'll never enjoy it. He also had figured that Felix would have already thought of it.

He raises an eyebrow now, corner of his mouth following it up, enjoying the renewed vigor even if it is a different flavor from what they just left. A flavor non-existent in Dean himself.] Yeah? You find somethin'?

[She smiles a touch wryly, glad for that. It fades slowly.] How long will you stay, then?

[Claire gives a wave, smile small but genuine, before crossing over to shake Felix's hand. It's firm enough, nothing overly delicate or overly bone crushing; normal.]

Yeah, finally.

[When his hand is released, she takes a step back to eye him over, eyes mainly hovering on the leg.] It's so cool to see that. You know, I went a while without knowing I could regrow limbs? Something in my science class got me thinking and I tested it on myself. Thankfully my haunch was right, heh.

[Amazing as it is, he really hadn't thought of it... at least, not consciously. In a man as capable of denial as Felix Gaeta is, maybe it's actually not all that surprising that he hadn't let himself come to realize so simple a truth -- not when he's been hiding so assiduously from anything that might remind him of home and, gods forbid, provoke a feeling or two.

Whatever's changed in him, though, it's changed this, too, and he nods eagerly.] Maps, encyclopedias... even fiction. I mean, it's not labeled as Colonial, it will take a long time to accomplish more than just a preliminary search, but... It's there. Some of it, anyway.

Why? What is it? [He's not the type to bother, of course, with I'm sure it's not or anything like that. He glances at her sidelong, raising a brow.]

That, I don't know. It might depend on how long he lets me stay without picking up an inmate. There are... things I'm not finished with here. [And people he's not ready to leave behind.]

Oh god. Is there gonna be a test later?

[Dean's groan is good-natured, his smirk kicking up a notch. He actually likes maps. Not as much as Felix clearly does, but he likes visual things. Functional things. He wonders idly if he'll be able to read maps from Felix's world like he can those from his own, but there's time for that.

They have time.]

Okay. And what are we doing with our new treasure trove of... paper? [He may not like research, but he'll always include himself in support of whatever Felix is working on as a foregone conclusion. Even though Felix will probably not always exactly want it.]

[He's fairly well-dressed, if slightly unkempt in all his current distraction. He hasn't worn his uniform in nearly a year now, save for floods, but he's been unenlisted before and has a small and serviceable wardrobe to supply: dark, slim-cut pants and jackets, sweaters in neutral greens and grays. He sees her sizing him up, runs a hand automatically through his curly hair, but it takes him only a second further to realize what she's actually looking at. He shifts uncomfortably.]

You... tested it on yourself?

We? [He smiles, but curiously, maybe even a little doubtfully. He hadn't expected Dean to include himself in this, as much as Dean is an integral part of his life. Unless he means--] I can keep it in my cabin.

Ohhh yeah. Me and my crazy video tapes. My attempts, I called them. I ended up losing track, but...yeeaah. My best friend helped me record them. He was the only one who knew my secret besides my adoptive father, only I didn't know that until later.

[Claire doesn't mention that Zach was Haitianed, what it was like to lose the one person she didn't have to hide from.]

[It's not so much the secret that concerns him as the fact that she apparently cut off her own body parts to test it out. He wrinkles his nose, suppressing a shudder; he already has enough memory of what that had felt like, and especially now that he has his leg back, he has no interest in reliving it.]

...Right. [He clears his throat.] Well, uh, I don't think we'll need any of that... just some of your blood, if you don't mind.

[Dean shrugs at the echo, smiling back impishly, maybe a little self-deprecating.]

What? I read.

[Dean raises an eyebrow, though, because apparently whatever it is Felix is doing it needs a place to be kept, now, and Dean's still not clear on...] What is "it?" I'm sure we can clear out a corner.

[Cabin 4-18 is not exactly bursting at the seams with furnishings.]

It. [He blinks, quizzical, elaborates:] The books. I want to talk to Racetrack about putting together a... collection. Maybe a subsection in the library. To find as much as we can, and then add our own knowledge...

[Sits and rolls up her sleeve, watching her own actions while continuing to talk.]

I don't mean to put people off, I'm just so used to my ability by now that I forget how creepy or repulsing it can be. I guess I try too hard or something? Since I had so many walls before and I don't as much anymore.

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