01 | open

[cannotforget]

CHARACTERS: Leo Elster and anyone who sees him.
LOCATION: Basecamp, then medical bay inside the ship.
WARNINGS: Mentions of blood and open wounds.
SUMMARY: Leo heads back to the ship to charge.
NOTES: Feel free to run into him either on his way to the ship or once he's already there!

[Everything that had been happening in the camp had left Leo with a good distraction to go and take care of the biggest issue he had in this strange world. He didn’t care so much about the people that came back, and while the contact with the new strangers would’ve usually caught his attention more, his biggest worry was making sure that his brain didn’t stop working because of the lack of power. The electricity grid he was working on with Tony was coming along nicely, yes, but it still had some ways to go. So the only thing Leo had left was what he had been using since he’d arrived, despite it being far from the best of safest method.

When it’s late enough for almost everyone to be asleep (or at least so thinks Leo) he leaves the small tent he had claimed for himself with his backpack over his shoulder. He’s careful as he leaves towards what’s left of the ship and into the medical bay and straight to one of the emergency lights. He takes a cable out of his bag, along with a shirt he uses to take off the light bulb. After he connects one end of the cable to the wall, he lifts the left side of his shirt and moves away the blood covered bandages. Keeping it open had been another challenge, a quite painful one since the nanite tattoo kept trying to heal the wound with whatever power it had in it. His fingers dig over the wound a little until he pulls out a couple of wires from it and, after letting a sigh out, Leo connects the other end of the cable to it.

It’s hard not to groan a little when the feeling of electricity running under his skin starts again, despite it being far from something new to him. He lowers himself to the floor, closing his eyes and sitting down while he waits to get some energy in him.]

Comments

[letmetakeaselfie]

Wait here. [ he whispers to digby, finger on his lips. except when he turns to start his descent into the ship the dog is already running ahead of him. goddamnit. not that it's so surprising, the dog had lived on board at some point. tony is stuck playing catch-up, but when he passes by the med-bay he sees something that shakes him to the core. ]

Leo? [ what the hell is this night. nothing is going his way. tony approaches softly, grateful for his rubber soles as he crouches down next to the other man. he feels a surge of protectiveness, followed by anger. it's a familiar feeling, he feels it for the avengers all the time. he cares about the people here, especially those who have helped him like david and leo. both robots, go figure. ] ...Why didn't you tell me? [ he could have come up with a much more elegant solution than this, he's sure. he hears the takka takka of digby's claws and holds out his arm so the creature doesn't come closer and get electricuted. this time, the dog listens. ]

[cannotforget]

[It's not until Tony speaks that he realizes the other man is there, let alone accompanied by that dog of his that he had already seen plenty of times when they worked together. After all, Leo was too busy trying to think of other ways to save his brother in case the secret in their head didn't work... But even then, doing so would be even harder since Hobb had them prisoners. Who knew when (and if) he went back to his world, he wouldn't find himself dying as soon as he did so.]

[When he does open his eyes and sees that he's there, Leo is left a bit unsure of how to react. He's mad because he thinks he's been followed, because his secret is exposed... But he also feels a little vulnerable knowing that someone else is able to see him like that, when he's hook to the wall trying to keep himself alive. In the end, the anger wins over and the tone of his voice is probably a bit rasher than it should be.]

It was none of your business.

[letmetakeaselfie]

[ he got that a lot. the brush off. it doesn't make it hurt any less. making sure digby is still hanging back, he focuses the full brunt of his gaze on leo. ]

There has got to be a better way to do this, though. And you know I'm the man for the job. [ or did he, tony doesn't exactly know. fights at home are mingling with the present and he knows this isn't leo's fault. he's just doing what he needs to do to survive. ] Or maybe you don't.

[ tony tugs on the neck of his shirt, dragging it down until leo can see the map of scars clustered over the center of his sternum. ] But I know a thing or two about being bionic.

[cannotforget]

Then I eagerly await your better ways, because I certainly did not want the whole place to know.

[It was enough that he had to risk himself and expose what he is by coming there to keep himself alive. That's why he wanted to get the electricity grid going as fast as possible... With the strange people that had recently showed up from the jungle, there was no telling if they'd have to move further away from the ship. And if they did... Then Leo had little chance of surviving, which wasn't an option considering his family's life was at stake back in his world.]

[Tony showing him his chest and seeing the marks there certainly surprises him. So he was like him... or at least had been, at some point. Now he was back to normal, to being just another human. Something that Leo knew he could never be, even if he actually wanted to.]

You're not anymore, from the looks of it.

[letmetakeaselfie]

Relax, I'm not going to tell anyone. Though... [ but nah it's his right to keep it secret or whatever. he'll respect that. tony nods. ]

The looks would have it in this instance. But I lived for five years like that, and it's not something you just forget. [ being a walking energizer battery. he still wakes up sometimes panicking because the arc reactor is gone. it's disconcerting, how much a part of him it had become. ]

[cannotforget]

The difference is, you managed to get yourself patched up and good as new. Even if I wanted to, I could never do it.

[He shrugs. Even if his memory, the way it works and how he's able to remember everything perfectly, affects him greatly, he wouldn't want to stop being what he is. It means he's alive, it means he's even closer to his brothers and sisters... It's his only comfort about the situation.]

[letmetakeaselfie]

Good as new is... [ a little much, but he gets why leo would be defensive about this. he shrugs, a little helplessly. ] You're fine the way you are, just. I'll meet you back at camp?

[ does leo want him to go? he rises up and gets ready to make his exit either way. he had come down here for supplies but he doesn't feel much like foraging anymore. ]

[sorrycharles]

[ Red emergency lights flicker and dim in the open cavern of medbay. Leo’s eyes may be closed, but he’ll feel electricity skip a beat through his wires, current interrupted while copper hums to a different pulse. For a moment, it’s like trying to draw a charge off a battery that’s already been drained.

He won’t have long to puzzle over the cause.

Erik crosses into view from behind -- slow, prowling steps and a look slanted down and aside at Leo as he passes. The lowered lights gloss bloody over steel armor fitted into his Tranquility jumpsuit. He’s broad in the shoulders, tall and trim and seldom seen around camp. The scruff of his beard has grown wild, and he’s blind in one eye. Scars clawed into the back of his scalp are offset by a piece missing out of his ear on the same side.

The knife on his belt is large enough for its size to be apparent in the dark.

A pair of metal spheres revolves in lazy orbit around his shoulders.

He doesn’t say ‘hello.’ He doesn’t say anything, busy sizing Leo up like a snake he’s found in his garden. Not entirely sure that it’s dangerous -- thinking he might better cut the head off all the same to be sure. ]

[cannotforget]

[Leo quickly opens his eyes and checks his side when he stops feeling the electricity running under his skin, wondering how did that even happen. This might not be the best method for charging at all, but so far it hadn't failed him. And the emergency light didn't look like it was drained...

He really doesn't have to wonder for too long to see why this is happening. For some reason he can't quite put his finger on at first, seeing Erik like that, covered in the red lights from the emergency lights, scare him. It only gets worse when he spots the knife hanging on Erik's belt and the strange metal spheres moving around him. That's another thing he doesn't have time to wonder what's it's cause.

The way that Erik is looking at him, like he could kill him at any moment without any sort of struggle, certainly worries him. A lot. What did the man think he was doing? Leo knew that sneaking out into the ship could be suspicious, but not that much... Right?]

What do you want?

[He tries to sound threatening, but it's clear that he's the one at a desadvantage here.]

[sorrycharles]

I want to know what you are.

[ This is a private conversation, and Erik keeps his voice low and quiet. Sounds have a way of carrying through the wreckage, high ceilings turned to walls, and walls into floors, everything tilted on its axis. Stars twinkle through the tear in the hull overhead.

He sounds more cultured than he looks -- positively polite through scars and scruff and war torn armor. There’s a fierce glitter to his eyes, when he sinks into a crouch before Leo. ]

I want you to explain what you’re doing here.

[cannotforget]

[How can he even avoid answering in this situation? He's trying not to, really, although Erik's appearance is really threatening, even if the way he sounds isn't at all.]

I'm keeping myself alive, that's what I'm doing.

[Leo is aware that won't be a good answer at all, mostly because he still hasn't told him what he is. But if he can stall it, or try something else... He's willing to at least give it a try.]

[sorrycharles]

[ The darkness closes in around them, red lights dark and distant. A chill creeps in through the void -- prickling cold at the back of Leo’s neck, at odds with the warm flush of heat that rises through the wires beneath his skin. Electricity flutters weakly through the wires at a start and stop in the process -- not the source so much as a side effect.

There isn’t much feeling beneath the lock of Erik’s stare, eye to eye. His good pupil is blown out wide in the dark.

The metal spheres he brought with him continue on in a steady circuit around his shoulders, glinting between them at every pass. ]

Elaborate.

[ He whispers. ]

[cannotforget]

[Getting on the bad side of a man who could somehow move metal spheres around most likely wasn't a good idea. Leo was sure that if he said anything that robbed the wrong way, chances were that his skull would be crushed by one of those spheres. The electricity fluttering like that distracts him, it bothers him and he wants nothing more than to take off the cable.

But something tells him that moving wasn't a good idea, either.

The only thing he could do, was to explain. And he hates that he's in a situation where he's forced to explain once again. At least Mattie wasn't so threatening, she just had information that was of great importance to him.]

Part of my brain is synthetic. I drowned when I was thirteen but my father brought me back to life by doing this. I need to charge to keep it working, simple as that.

(tl;dr: skip to the bottom couple of paragraphs if necessary!)

[hairrands]

There are times when AJ is industrious, and times when she is so boldly rash that you might take her for stupid.

Tonight is one of the latter moments.

She's been working hard on the wall, helping to see it through to completion, but every so often she hears tales of things rooted up out of the ship. People going back to it to dig for something important. Lockers containing gear left behind by the dead, or the forgotten.

She gets ideas.

Taking a lantern to light her way, leaving Algidus and others in her dust thanks to the oldest excuse in the book (latrines aren't great hang-out spots) AJ swings by her shanty home and picks up useful gear. Bow, arrows in the quiver the Crickets had stitched. Cricket-spear. Back pack. Furrowed brow from hell. She's trying it one more time, she's going to go out.

The hellish red light emanating from the ever-illuminated med-bay shine like a beacon in the dark under the half-full moons and AJ, alert for attacks and ready for skulking soiled men or boil-mad animals, manages to make her way to the side of the ship. She's in after a few minutes of un-disturbed climbing, and from there it isn't long until she's picking her way through the the debris of the grav couches. The place makes her gut bubble wiht anxiety, but she's determined to make this trip worth her while.

She's not expecting to see anyone else in here, but she supposes she shouldn't be surprised. Leo's someone she's only ever really seen in passing; she's never attempted to bust in on his and Tony's electrical projects because she doesn't trust herself not to fuck up a conversation about a project she might actually devour, and because she's already committed herself to grunt-work. Less to fret about.

Or maybe more. She stops a good distance from Leo, wondering if she should sneak around him to get to the locker room.

In the end, she thinks of the way that she had wished she'd had someone at her back every moment she'd been trapped in her own hell, and she thinks better of leaving him alone. It'd suck if he died out here... she wouldn't like to die out here, alone.]

Hey, [she rasps, shifting herself a little lower, lowering her spear as though she's ready to put it down, just in case he's startled.] You don't look so hot. You okay?

(don't worry about it! I love me some long tags!)

[cannotforget]

[He had stopped paying that much attention to his surroundings the moment he closed his eyes. He should've known better than to do that, hadn't he learnt already how bad it was, to let his guard down like he was doing right then? In his defense, there are plenty of things to occupy his mind with after all that happened to him and his family before he was pulled into this place.

AJ's voice snap him out of his train of thought and suddenly he feels very vulnerable. Exposed, even. He tries to move a little towards his side in an attempt to hide his left side and the wires coming from his wound and up to the emergency lights. At least his shirts covers the scene, if only slightly so. He isn't sure if he wants a repeat of the entire situation with Mattie: having to explain what he is, what happened to make him that way... Although he admits that it was like taking a burden off his shoulders, he wasn't so sure if he wanted to do it again so soon.]

Minding my own business, yes.

[His tone is harsh, almost aggressive. Weren't people in the camp usually told to not wander into the ship, that it was dangerous and unstable? He was surprised that there were people as desperate as he was because what other reason would they be to get inside the wreck of such an enormous ship?]

[hairrands]

[She, luckily or not, doesn't see the wire digging into his flesh, but everything else about his posture, his wariness, the way that he's hiding out here, puts her in another mind. She steps a little closer, despite the warning.]

You sober? What'd you find, was it something from in here?

[Or worse, something from out in the jungle? AJ had spent a lot of time trying to cultivate various berries and leaves from out there when she'd been trying for booze to trade, ages ago. She knows how some of them can go wrong. What's made this man den up in this little pocket-hell-hole, though?]

[cannotforget]

What are you talking about?

[He frowns at her question. Did she think he was drunk or something? Or on drugs? Rather, that was a better alternative thank her suspecting he was doing something wrose, all things considered. What he's not happy about is her getting closer. It makes it harder to hide the situation he's in, which she apparently hadn't noticed so far.]

I don't have anything.

[hairrands]

Uh huh.

[AJ casually swings the flashlight beam around his feet, near his arm. She'd seen him shift to hide something...]

You know nobody's gonna come down on you for shit. I'm not stealing anything, either. I don't do anything hard.

[Bribing others with potential loopy-pills, however...]

If you're coming out here to get mashed by the ship-jump, you're going to be waiting for a while. Far as I know it doesn't happen often. There's probably better ways to die, anyhow.

[cannotforget]

I don't plan to get high or to die in this world. What I do is none of your business.

[He tries to not move too much, trying to not bring too much attention towards his left side. She was trying to use her flashlight to see what he was hiding, after all. And it bothered him. Leo wanted her gone but at the same time he was starting to think that it wasn't something he would accomplish easily.]

[circumitus]

[Almost everyone is asleep...

[Except for those who are like Rey, who doesn't sleep that much at all. She had been standing guard at the tree dome for a while, watching over the people she has come to see as her family while they slept when the restlessness kicks in.

[As they sleep, she climbs down the tree and makes her way through the night jungle on her lonesome. At this point she knows the area like the back of her hand, able to weave through the shadows and over fallen trees and foliage with little effort. It becomes easier when she finds herself in the mile radius of the ship, where the plantlife has withered from the effects of the jump.

[For some reason or another, she's drawn to the ship. She can't help but feel like she needs to be in there. It's nothing too to fret about, of course. Just an urge that tugs at her in certain hours of the day and night, as she climbs up the side of the ship and into the medbay.

[Once inside, she collects herself, sifting through the remains of the Tranquility when she finds that kid -- said his name was Leo a while back, didn't he? -- on the floor.

[There's no panic or anything when she approaches him, even when she notices the wire connecting him to some electronics. She just gives him a light nudge with the toe of her combat boot.]

Hey. You better not be dead.

[cannotforget]

[Leo wasn't entirely sure at what point he had fallen asleep while charging. To his defense, the last couple of days had been busy enough that sneaking into the ship to charge hadn't been a possibility, which made his body feel more tired than usual. And knowing that he'd been able to charge in this place made him feel slightly relaxed, as if he had one less thing to worry about for at least some time.

It probably wouldn't surprise Rey how he jumps out thanks to that light nudge. After all, he wasn't expecting to have visitors or anyone finding out that he was there, either. He blinks a couple of times and looks up, realizing that maybe it's a little too late to hide the cable and the wires because she's already close enough that doing so would be pointless.]

I don't plan to be dead anytime soon.

[After all, he still hasn't given up hope of finding a way back to his world, to his brothers and sisters, and find a way to get himself and them out of Hobb's grasp.]

[circumitus]

[As soon as he springs to life, Rey retreats a step back. Between that and his response, she's relieved to find that he is definitely alive. For now.]

Good to hear.

[By then she's already noticed the wires, but she doesn't react to them like he would probably expect. It's not the first time she has seen a person plug themselves into something, though not necessarily in the same way as Leo right now.

[After a moment, she nods to his personal little setup.] What're you doing here at this hour? [Never mind how one could easily ask her the exact same thing.]

[cannotforget]

[While the lack of reaction certainly catches his attention, he decides to not say anything about it. Although he's really curious as to why she's not reacting at the sight of someone having an open wound on his side with wires coming out of it. Was it something average, where she came from?]

I could ask you the same, you know.

[It's probably not the best way to avoid the question, he's aware of that, but it might be enough to derail the conversation even if only a little bit. Leo's quite sure that it won't work for too long, after all he's already had another conversation with her, right when he had just stepped out of this same medical bay.]

[circumitus]

Couldn't sleep. [It's partially the truth, considering that she can't sleep on most nights. A few hours is just about all she ever seems to get in, and more often than not she looks like it.

[Shifting her weight to one side, she folds her arms over her chest, her eyes flicking from the wires and then back to him.]

You synthetic or something? [Yes, they have those back in her world, being partially synthetic herself.]

[cannotforget]

And you just decided to get in here.

[If she doesn't want to answer, he doesn't mind. He would probably do the same if the roles were reversed. But then she mentions a synthetic and he's left stunned for a bit. So she's familiar with synths...? So far she was the first, that he knew about. Only he doesn't know if both terms mean the same.]

I don't bleed blue, so I'd say no.

[Not entirely, at least.]