[Video] un: spanglethesestars

[ukase]

[Rumlow had just woken up after been sent back to the cryostasis tubes for a time. He was paler than usual, still shaking off the effects if the way he had to clench a hand around his thigh was any indication, but he was as presentable as one could be with a shiver or two.

And maybe - just maybe - the fact he had gone back to cryo once shifted a little of his cocksure attitude when it came to his place.]

Cryostasis the second time round isn't nearly as fun as the first. Makes me sympathetic to someone I used to know who spent too much time a popsicle. And I heard there was a dragon that showed up? I'm not used to missing out on the action. Anyone care to give me an update on how that went?

[He sat up straighter suddenly, his nose twitching and then he sneezed rather violently into a hand. Normal stuff, really. Except that the little bits of spittle that landed in his hand apparently had solidified into what looked like shards of glass that jammed into his hand.

Needlessly to say, he dropped his communicator.] Son of a bitch...!

[Guess who discovered a new power that came with the new wakefulness from cryo.]

Comments

[sweetwater]

[ she deserved it, really. ]

I'm more of a Nancy Drew.

That didn't happen to you until after you went back into the pods?

[ukase]

Her books weren't half bad, I guess.

[He shrugged his shoulders. This definitely wasn't a thing before his most recent trip into cryostasis.]

No, I had no special or weird things that I could do before being put back under.

[sweetwater]

[ she nods. another weird thing about their weird new home. cool. cool. cool. ]

Are you scared?

[ukase]

[He's seen too much weird shit in his time to even consider fear a necessary emotion at this point.]

Nope, can't say that I am. Maybe if I grow a head out of my ass, I will be. I would hate to have a smart-ass after all.

[sweetwater]

[ Cheryl laughs. ] Better a smart-ass than a dumb-ass, don't you think?

[ukase]

As long as it isn't talking back to me, I'm satisfied. Three heads would be a crowd.

[sweetwater]

You're easy to please, aren't you?

[ukase]

[He grinned.]

On some subjects, definitely. On others... not so much. Easier to take it all in stride then get stressed about it though.

[sweetwater]

Easier said than done when there's people being kidnapped and dragons and other people disappearing into stasis, leaving the rest of us behind.

[ being a teenager is very hard, okay? especially when friends keep disappearing. ]

[ukase]

A more cheerful friend of mine would say those events are just an opportunity to dig in, make new friends and eat some damn ice cream.

[He was there once, minus the dragons. It just happened to be a very, very long time ago.]

[sweetwater]

[ ice cream. she looks very hopeful. ]

Do you think I could get a strawberry milkshake somewhere around here?

[ukase]

I'm not sure this place has enough class to handle strawberry anything, but you're in a league of your own if you ask.

[At this point, he'd take any ice cream just to say he tried it in space.]

[sweetwater]

[ good answer. she smiles. ] Perhaps it'll be my next venture into bravery.

[ukase]

I'll witness you, if you need someone. Then mock you relentlessly if it all goes down the drain in disappointment.

[sweetwater]

It's not very nice to make fun of a teenage girl's potential failures.

[ukase]

You have to take your disappointing knocks now so you can become a functional embittered adult like the rest of us. I'm helping.

[sweetwater]

Is that what adulthood is really about? Bitterness?

[ukase]

For some. For others, it's about finding a niche in the world. For others, it's about a sense of normalcy. Others still, it's about making a difference.

[sweetwater]

I guess I won't hold my breath for the sense of normalcy.

[ukase]

Normal is awful boring anyway. You're better off without it.

[sweetwater]

I could do with a little normal after everything that's happened in the last year - not even to mention what happened at home. I never want to be boring and average, but I could tolerate a few moments of peace to read a book without wondering if someone is going to be kidnapped or they'll beam us all up to their poorly maintained space station.

[ukase]

And just what happened that home that makes this place much of the same? Since we're on the space station anyway, you have plenty of time to read.

[sweetwater]

My father murdered my dear brother because he refused to take part in the family business, which we'd long believed was simply Blossom Maple Farms but in truth Daddy was running drugs from Montréal. Daddy hanged himself, leaving me alone with my horrid mother.

[ukase]

Drug muling, huh? Maple Farm is a good cover for the seedy side of things, or so I hear. So really, this place is positively delightful in comparison... unless your mother happens to be here.

[sweetwater]

It worked as a cover for seventy-five years. Perhaps it would still be working if not for Daddy committing filicide. Well, and the storm that wiped everything off the galactic map.

Mumsy's still in the pods, thankfully. It does leave me entirely to my own devices, which I'm still not accustomed to.

[ she considers him quietly for a moment. ] You don't find yourself waiting for the other show to drop while we're stranded up here?