Vinur, vinur sært tú meg? (OPEN)

[loyal_soldier]

WHO: TK-622 and whoever
WHERE: Maurtia Falls, various locations
WHEN: During or after the kryptonite plot
WHAT: 622's having a bit of a hard time of it
WARNINGS: Untreated Star Wars trauma, depression, for the love of pete does no one in this galaxy know what a therapist is

1. At Aegis HQ

He'd been kept out of the response to the latest anomaly. That made sense. It was a combination of hazardous material clean-up and conflict mitigation, with the distinct possibility of handling mood-altering crystals in the process.

That wouldn't go well with his present state. He was assigned to the Aegis home base, taking inventory, and stripping and cleaning everything in their armory. It was tedious work, and with the relatively unfamiliar weapons and gear, he couldn't completely turn his brain off for it.

Which was good. If he was left to move on autopilot, he'd probably start thinking over things again, and that hadn't gotten him anywhere lately.

2. Heading Home

When his shift is over, he signs out, gathers his things, and starts to jog back to the hab blocks. He needs the exercise.

Just don't interact with the locals. Don't think to hard about anything. If he sees something suspicious, call it in and don't engage.

Just keep walking, and trying not to think about anything. He's not built for it.

3. At Maurtia Falls #003

Once he's back, there's not much to do. He's not cooking these days, just eating ration bars he summons from his gear, relying on the comfortingly bland nutrition to see him through without a fuss.

And to be honest, he's more tired than he usually is. Once he's done with his ration and finishing up some Aegis paperwork, he's likely to go and lie down.

4. At Maurtia Falls #003, 2 AM

He heard a noise. Or maybe it was just his imagination, but he's suddenly awake all the same. Until he's sure one way or the other, he's not getting back to sleep.

He gets up slowly and quietly, to start doing a sweep of the house.

Comments

1

[h2no]

Where he is at the moment, Archie's needed to keep a very close eye on 622. As he'd said to Poe, he doesn't want to have to step in unless the guy starts seriously falling apart but... mercifully, it seems like that won't be completely necessary. Turns out when he really thinks about it, Aegis is overflowing with menial tasks that fall well within 622's ability range and keeping him around base seems for the best.

That said, he's not breathing down the guy's neck. Archie has more than enough work to do himself, so when he catches 622 working in the armoury, it's the first time he's seen him in a couple days, bar very brief update reports.

"Hey, hey, Tee-Kay!" he chirps happily with that stupid rhyme he seems so proud of himself for thinking up, holding the single piece of equipment he'd been using under his arm; a helmet. He was... doing some experimentation with his new power. "How's it goin' in here?"

Re: 1

[loyal_soldier]

An interruption. A friendly one, but--He looks up from his work, nodding a hello. "Almost done." He points to a swath of equipment racks, oil rag in hand. "Just those left, and it'll all be sorted."

He eyes the helmet. "Is that getting checked in?"

[h2no]

Archie nods, glancing over the armour and weaponry.

"Good job," he says, inspecting them properly despite knowing he doesn't need to. Maybe some part of him is worried he'll find something 622 missed and it'll hurt the poor guy more. "Ah-- yes."

Twisting it round to show a light scrape and some paint chipping on the side, he grins a little sheepishly.

"I went a bit overboard in the holosim. I'm fine, but-- well, the helmet did its job. Can you show me how to buff this out?"

[loyal_soldier]

"Thank you." He'd learned not to say 'sir', there. It still felt wrong.

Having more work to focus on helped, though. He took the helmet, giving it a thorough inspection. "The scrape can get polished out, but the chipping needs more work." It was mostly just cosmetic, though with how the OTO was occasionally using laser weapons, the outer coating on armor could probably make a difference in mitigating the damage.

He stood up, retrieving a kit from one of the shelves and opening the latch to reveal neatly-packed supplies. "Solvent, pre-taped plastic, rubbing compound and sandpaper, primer, base coat, clear coat," he pointed to each, then took out the solvent and a clean rag. "wipe it down, apply the tape to contain the work area, then sand down to the metal."

The kit was completely different than the one he used to repair his own armor. He'd read the manual for the kit, though. It'd been soothingly bland.

[h2no]

He thought it might-- though this is genuinely something he could use some pointers on; it's not all for 622. As 622 stands to retrieve the kit, Archie shifts forward to get a proper look at what he's getting out and naming. Nodding as he tries to commit it all to memory.

(Archie'd tried to read the instruction kit, too, but sound it gratingly bland. Too much work and not enough attention span to swallow any of the information.)

"I always forget there's a primer for the sandpaper..." he muses, holding a hand out for the rag to be passed over so he can do as directed. "Might repaint it all blue, too!"

4.

[flightforfreedom]

Poe had been at 622's place far more often than he'd been in his own home. He was still technically on leave from the Air Force, and just hadn't... really told anyone that he was. He'd taken leave to help Aegis, and even though he wasn't running any missions for them right now, he just let work think he was. So whenever 622 was off shift, Poe was there. And whenever he was on shift, Poe went home and collapsed for a while.

The Death Star was gone. Rocks were falling from the sky. Everything was fine.

What it meant, though, was that Poe had been getting a lot of broken sleep while laying in 622's bed most nights. He had no idea what the hell to do, and the only thing he could even think of was just being there. So. He was trying to be there.

It was a relief, when Akobi came back. Even if it meant puttering around 622's house was a little more awkward than before. More importantly, it meant that 622 was having an easier time of it. Or at least Poe hoped he was.

One less thing to worry about.

He hadn't been sleeping well himself, so when 622 quietly left the bed, he woke up instantly, watching the man disappear in the dark. This had happened a few times, and it worried Poe every time but he couldn't exactly blame 622 for being nervous about it. After all, their house had burned down, and then the Death Star arrived. So. You know. Slight paranoia was probably warranted.

He lay still for a couple more minutes and then dragged himself out of bed, too, grabbing a dark t-shirt to throw on over his gunmetal grey boxers. He padded out after 622, clearing his throat lowly to announce his presence as he stepped up behind him in the living room.

"Hey. Everything okay?"

[loyal_soldier]

He probably woke Poe up. Should've alerted him, but--while he has to make sure, he's almost positive the noise was just in his head.

"Thought I heard something." He's said the same thing almost every night. Sometimes he didn't even have that excuse. "Sweep's clear so far."

[flightforfreedom]

Poe let out a breath. "I'll check the outer perimeter," he murmured, the same thing he'd been saying almost every night, too. The quicker they got the sweep done, the quicker he could convince 622 to come back to bed.

He reached out, giving 622's shoulder a small, gentle squeeze, before walking past him and heading outside.

Despite the fact that he knew these sweeps were really not necessary, he still took it seriously enough to do it. He was thorough - checking the front garden and then the back, then flying up on a broomstick to check the roof. All clear. It was a few more minutes before he padded back into the house - his barefeet dirtier than they had been before - and found 622.

"Outer perimeter's all clear."

[loyal_soldier]

Checking the interior only took so long. Once the sweep was complete, he waited for Poe, heart rate slowing. Not as fast as it should, though.

He knew it was stupid. He'd managed to get over this before, for the most part. He'd been able to distinguish better between the normal sounds the apartments made, and things that might actually be threats. And now he was back to checking every corner, even when he knew nothing was going to be there.

"Hab's clear." He could feel the almost tingling sensation of fatigue sitting in his eyelids. "Sorry."

[redwarhawk]

[This is harder than back home on a number of levels. She knows he's hurting, he has to be. The Death Star, Akobi... the worst things that could have happened short of the planet actually getting blown to shit, all at once. It's his hell. She doesn't know him all that well but even she could see that.

Back home, this would be much easier to accomplish. For one thing, he would have his clan to fall back on, to support him, not just a handful of strangers. Some of them may be his clan, or as close as, but it's not the same. He doesn't have sibs and cousins to haul him out of his routine rut into fun or trouble or both, rivals to get into scrapes with, parents and sib-parents to feed him until he can't stand, littles to pester him and give him hope for the future.

He has her, and an awkward text:]

I don't know where you live.

[loyal_soldier]

[He stares at the message for a while, trying to make sense of it. A threat? A security concern? Something social?

Could be anything, and he's not very good at thinking this through right now.]

I didn't think it was vital information.

[redwarhawk]

Gonna take a wild guess and say you haven't been eating. I have steaks and alcohol.

[How the hell do you tell someone "You shouldn't be alone right now"? It's so much easier to just kick their door open and park on their couch.]

[loyal_soldier]

I've been eating enough. I have rations. And no alcohol when I'm going to be on duty the next day.

[Aegis was keeping him in non-combat roles right now. He knew that, and it stung. But all the same, you couldn't act like it was any different.]

[stlg13bomber]

Carter would normally be bubbling with enthusiasm when his housemates come home, a nonstop waterfall of talking. But something seems...off, about 622 today. More brain damage? Hopefully not. He gives 622 his space during the day, but when he sees him up and wandering in the middle of the night he gets worried enough to intervene.

(What was Carter doing awake at this hour? Watching movies. He's bad at impulse control.)

"Hey. 622, you okay?" He says it in a soft, urgent tone. No sudden loud noises to jolt him to possible violence by reflex.

[loyal_soldier]

There's someone else here. He realizes it maybe a half-second before--

He recognizes the voice. Sergeant Carter. Steady on.

"Thought I heard something." Maybe it was Carter. Maybe not. "Got up to do a sweep."

[stlg13bomber]

"Oh. Huh." In the house, huh. "You, uh, worried it's a burglar or something?"

Carter's got the world's worst poker face, and something in his voice says there's intent lurking behind the question. He was there when TK got home, though didn't get a chance to speak with him. What little he saw is...it's a little worrying.

[loyal_soldier]

622 has never been good with reading faces or tone. Not outside of very specific situations, picking out an absolutely imminent threat from a crowd. Attempts to be coy and innocent usually work on him.

But even he picked up that there's something in there, even if he's not sure what. "Sergeant, if you know what might have caused the noise, please tell me so I can confirm nothing's wrong."

3.

[ralltiir]

622 may not be cooking, but Akobi is. He's finding that focusing on the simpler processes of life is helping keep him centered and distracted from the addition of a new power he very much does not want to think about. When he's just about done frying up some potatoes to go with his chicken, and 622 passes through the kitchen, unwrapping a ration bar, he calls out to his friend.

"Are you sure you don't want any of this?"

Re: 3.

[loyal_soldier]

He stops in his tracks. It almost feels like he's been found out, for some reason.

"No, thank you sir. Just a ration for me." Field rations aren't actually supposed to be eaten for every meal unless you really have to. But they're bland, they're as nutritionally balanced as a concentrated bar can be, and they're normal.

[ralltiir]

Akobi knows that you're not meant to eat rations for every meal. He frowns, concerned, and steps away from the stove to stand in 622's path.

"Don't make me insist, 622." His voice is stern but his face is kind. He's worried for his friend.

[loyal_soldier]

He looks down to avoid meeting Akobi's eyes. He's not going to push back on this. Why would he?

"Yes, sir. Sorry."

3

[ct_7567]

[ One good thing about the fact that he and 622 are neighbours - one good thing out of many - is that chances are, they hear the same things. Rex's nights are largely sleepless as they are, even if they're vastly more restful than 622's own, and he'd been up for some time when he hears a thump outside. He extricates himself from Andy who's either asleep or making a good show of it, murmuring something about going to check it out before he heads out, making a sweep of the perimeter.

He does it for himself. But he does it for another reason too. If he heard something, so did 622. It's not long before he sends him a quick text. ]

It's all clear. Dead bird.

[ It's not much. But it might take some load off. ]

Re: 3

[loyal_soldier]

[His reply arrives far too soon to not have been on high alert.]

Acknowledged.

[One more non-threat identified. But the trend really wasn't sinking in, not when there were other possible worse trends to watch. The invasiveness of the anomalies that kept happening, for starters. One burned down his hab block. The next big one had been worse. And who knew when another one would start, or how?

Or there was still always the constant chance of the locals getting up to something criminal. Problems could be mundane and still be dangerous.

But it was none of them tonight. Just a dead bird.]

Thanks for the heads-up.

[ct_7567]

I've always got an extra pair of eyes looking out for you, vod.

[ Rex contemplates what to do next. He knows that 622's not doing well. And, perhaps, he's not fulfilling his role as his brother - his only brother, to be there for him when nothing else is working. They're meant to be a unit. They have their own lives, their own groups, duties, partners, though their definition of partner is stridently different.

But looking out for his little brother is always going to be his job. Poe's doing his best, but one man can't do it alone. It has to be the unit. His unit, or what he's cobbled together. ]

Are you doing your rounds regardless?

[loyal_soldier]

I'll do my best to match you, then.

[It almost feels normal. Circumstances sometimes meant critical periods were spent with no line of sight to your squad, just radio contact. It always was a little tense--he wasn't a scout or a commando, habituated to that kind of work. But it was still part of the job.

Combine that with the late hour, and he's moving on autopilot. Completing the sweep is helping to stabilize his heart rate.

At least until he's caught out for it. At least Rex can't see the wince he made at that.]

Just finishing up.