trans_9 | [ >( ] (open to anyone who wants to visit)

Entry tags:

[ >( ] (open to anyone who wants to visit)

[ooc: BENDYTIME, ACTIVATE! Anytime after the crew has returned to the ship.]

When the medics finally woke Steve up from his healing trance, he was not in the best of moods.

For one thing, the trance had left him feeling much, much better than before-- but had not done much for the virus. A good supply of bandages were able to conceal many of the external signs, but he couldn't very well wrap them around the green marks on his face, his fingers or both of his eyes. His levels were stable but until the virus had gone back into remission, he was stuck in quarantine.

For another, there was no news as far as what had caused GLaDOS to go off on him. No clues as to who found out about him, no sign of who might have done it-- just the knowledge that someone on this crew, who he was supposed to trust, was capable of attacking him like that and there was little to be done about it right now.

And of course, someone had to inform him that Zokez II had been nearly annihilated by the Ohm. The beautiful beaches, resorts and cities-- the places where he spent a happy week relaxing, feeling normal, and spending time with Miku-- were gone, destroyed, the people fled and with no hope of rebuilding. His week had been cut short anyway, but now it felt like the whole thing had been ripped away from him. Even the happy moments he had here on this ship were fleeting-- in the end, everything was now just a memory, stuck in the past and never to come again.

And furthermore, he'd slept through it. The first encounter with the Ohm, the stupid aliens who were the whole reason he was awake on this goddamned ship in the first place, and Steve was too busy sleeping off a virus outbreak that nearly stole his mind from him to help out.

"A mistake" indeed.

Steve was not in any kind of mood at all as he sat on the floor and leaned against the bubble, staring at the ceiling. His silhouette was visible through the dimmed bubble.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

He seemed relieved to hear that she blamed his attacker rather than him. Of course he had no reason to think she would have blamed him anyway, but this was Steve, the King of Pessimism, here.

His face turned a lovely shade of pink as Miku reacted to what might be the corniest thing he'd ever said. Crazy cat eyes or no, Steve always looked the same when he was sheepish. "Well- well, you are," he retorted. "And I never did get you a birthday present, so it'll be for that, too."

Say it that way made Miku think of a defensive middle schooler, but she kept that to herself. It was a bit endearing. "I'll look forward to it. I'll have to see if some of the supplies Nanoha-san and I bought made it up here, but maybe I'll see if I can't make a cake. For us." She shifted in her seat and went to touch Steve's hair... but was stopped by the bubble.

She frowned at it. "As soon as you're out."

He looked a little somber at Miku's failed attempt to touch his hair, reaching up and sticking his hand against the bubble.

"I won't be long," he said, with far more confidence than he actually had. "I'll be out of here soon. Count on it. As soon as I look normal again."

Miku smiled again, almost widely. "I'll be waiting for you." She put her hand over his, and thought she could almost feel the warmth through the bubble. But that was probably just her imagination. "And then we can put some of this behind us, right?"

Steve didn't answer for a moment. It seemed like every time he got close to putting something behind him, something even worse happened. Not to mention he had the feeling that this one was going to stick with him a while-- the mere thought that one of the crew members, people he was supposed to be trusting and working with, would attack him-

He let out a little breath and smiled crookedly at her. "Yeah," he said finally. "I hope you won't see me like this every time you look at me now. I don't like being the real live version of Beauty and the Beast."

"I won't," Miku promised. When he hesitated in answering, she had felt a little twinge of fear that he might just add it to a huge chip on his shoulder, one that she'd hoped was breaking down a little bit each day. It made her want to find the person that had done this to him and punch him.

It was possibly the most violent thought Miku ever had in her entire life.

"Anyway, isn't the moral of that story to not judge by appearances? Something like that?" Western fairytales were a little lost on Miku, unfortunately. She was more of a Momotaro girl. She smiled at Steve again and sighed. If the situation were reversed, would he think the same thing? It was something to think about, but not right now. "You don't judge me for the weird things I can do," and they were weird. Weird and harmful, "I wouldn't think about doing the same."

He leaned his arm against the bubble, and nodded a bit. "I know I don't have to worry about you judging me-- and vice versa. Like I'm in any position to judge other people for being weird," he sighed. "But even if I wasn't like this, I wouldn't anyway." It was just rude and cruel. And Steve's mom didn't raise a rude boy.

Then he glanced at her and smiled again. "I hope you like the present I got you. As soon as I can get to it I'll give it to you."

"Do I get hint?" Miku brightened, glad for the subject change. "I'd give you one, but you'll probably guess it." She had never been very good at keeping hints mysterious.

He thought about it briefly. "It's pink," he said. "That's your only hint."

"Just that?" Miku crossed her arms and pretended to pout. "Ah, well. It's pink, so I'm sure I'll like it."

"I hope you like it," he said. "I have no idea what girls like. But I feel pretty good about it, so I think it was a good choice."

"Well, if you gave me another hint..."

Steve looked like he was thinking about it for a minute.

"Naaah," he insisted. "I don't want to give it away."

Miku settled her large, innocent, brown eyes on him. "Not even another, tiny, tiny one?" She rested her chin on her knee, hoping to further cajole him (it was sort of fun, in a way, better than cajoling her brother about gifts).

"Nope." Steve grinned at her. "You have to be patient!"

Miku sighed at Steve, "Well, alright. I suppose I can be patient." She smiled at him. Maybe she should've asked Nanoha how to properly cajole a boy.

...Then again, would she even know?

"I promise, I won't take too long," he assured her. "I'll look normal again and be out soon."

He paused after that and made a thoughtful face. "You know, some of the, uh... the people who get these viruses were able to change themselves back and forth and control it. I wonder if I could learn to do that-- if I'm gonna be stuck with it for now anyway. It'd be nice if I could just look normal instantly."

"Do you think so? What if they tell you it's too dangerous?" Because this was one thing, but Steve rampaging around as the monster he spoke about before... that was another, and far more dangerous. "Not that I'd tell you to not try it, if you can, but..."

Miku shifted in her seat and tapped the bubble over his hand with her finger, "I just don't want anything else bad to happen."

"I know," he said quickly. "And I'm still not sure if I would even want to, but..."

He drifted off suddenly, shaking his head. "Nevermind. But I won't do anything reckless. The last thing I want is to get stuck in here again."

"I'd rather you didn't, either. But, I'd still come to see you if you did." Miku sighed and traced circles on the bubble over his hand. They needed a change of subject, "I think I'm going to see if Cargn-sensei won't help me train a little harder. When we were down there, I bought him a gigantic tea cup.

"He... he looked kind of silly with that little one he always uses. It's more proportional." She smiled, trying to for brightness to cheer him up a little little bit.

It seemed to work, at least somewhat. He smiled at the image of the ultra-serious (and freaky) Cargn drinking out of any kind of teacup.

"I think it's funny a guy like that drinks tea at all. Or that you're friends with him. He's kinda..." Steve left that one unsaid but made a face. "You know."

"His tea is very good; it's not what I'm used to, but it's still tasty." Miku sighed dreamily at the thought of it. "And despite how... scary he looks, he's very nice. Kind of grandfatherly, really." She wagged a finger at him, "I trust him, and he's generally very..."

Miku tapped her lower lip, looking for the word. "Soothing. Sort of. It's hard to explain. He's calmer than everyone else."

"I guess after hanging out with me so much, it'd be nice to find somebody calming," he joked.

Still, he didn't mind. He'd never talked to Cargn personally and as long as he was nice to Miku, no problem. Of course, if Steve ever heard tell of Cargn bullying her or insulting her, Mr. Scary Teacup would find himself face to face with a raging redheaded teenager.

Miku sighed at him and poked at his arm through the bubble. "You're exaggerating a bit." After all, he didn't seem to fly off the handle so often around her.

"Well yeah, but I know there's no way I'm in the running for Zen Master or anything like that," he pointed out. "Luke always says I rush too far into things. And my mom always said I was a hothead."

He tugged on a few strands of bright red hair. "Guess it comes with the color. I'm glad you're a calm person, though."

[ >( ] (open to anyone who wants to visit)

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)