trans_9 | Down periscope! Dive dive dive! [open, btw. come talk to the grouchy green genius, newbies]

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Down periscope! Dive dive dive! [open, btw. come talk to the grouchy green genius, newbies]

Anyone who ventures near the bathrooms will hear odd, strained clanking noises, to the point of possibly making some wonder if one of the Transformers is trying to go and having a hard time of it.

This is not a sign of one of the 'bots on board needing more robo-fiber, however.

Brainiac 5 is up to something.

Surprisingly, his techie hijinks are something he's been ordered to do--Jaime, the one in charge of the team trying to open up more of the ship has tasked him with building things to scout out where the waste goes, to use that to find out more about Stacy's hidden structures and ductwork, and that's exactly what he's doing--building an array in the bathroom to control and track the sensor-bots he's about to send where the sun don't shine.

"Hmm...still losing signal strength..."

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Oh no.

No no no.

No.

Kara's not stopping yet.

She flies into the nearest sensorium.

"Give me a hide-and-seek type thing!" she yells as soon as she's in. "And lock it so that Brainy can't change the settings! I don't want him cheating."

The Sensorium turns into a lush primeval forest, complete with huts and walkways up in the trees. There might have perhaps been furry, short bear-like creatures there if the simulation had included projections of any animal or sentient life, but it didn't.

"Stacy, end the simulation."

||I cannot comply. The simulation is locked and will only end at the request of the individual that locked it.||

Sprocking sprockety sprock sprock--

"Kara, this is nowhere near as amusing as you think it is," Brainy says, flying around, looking for her.

Edited 2009-06-26 07:05 (UTC)

Kara's hiding inside one of the huts currently, crouching low. She leans out a window and yells, "You're right! It's way more amusing! Catch me if you can, green bean!"

Brainy spots her and immediately flies for the opposite door, figuring she'd likely be moving away from the window after his spotting her there.

Crud.

Kara whirls around and heads for another exit, intent on keeping as far away from Brainy as possible.

She manages to get clear of that door, but he goes blasting out of the hut behind her, giving chase. With the flight rings, the speed is affected by willpower, and he really, really wants to catch her.

...Er, his omnicom. He wants to get his omnicom back. Yes.

"Why do you insist on being a constant annoyance?"

Kara flies up through the trees and the branches, coming up above the forest canopy. She flies straight before darting back down. Turning around so she's flying backwards, she says, "I don't know, Brainy. Why do you think I do it?"

"I haven't the faintest idea."

"Funny. And you call yourself Brainiac. I don't know, cabbage butt. I thought you'd be smarter than that."

"I suppose it simply amuses you."

"I'd be lying if I said I didn't get some sort of enjoyment out of it," Kara replies. "Because I do. I really, really do. But...well, let's just leave it at that for now. I don't want you to get confused or have brain-sprain later."

"And do you think I enjoy being treated as a toy for you to be amused by?" he calls over the wind.

Kara stops and flies towards Brainy. She floats in circles around him, her head tilted, studying him. She stops before him, then, and flies just a little too close for comfort. "I don't Brainy." Impulsively, she leans in and kisses his cheek. Winking, she asks, "Do you?" And without waiting for a reply - or for him to catch her - she takes off again.

Why--what.

Why does she do that? Why does she insist on doing such intensely irrational things that make no sense whatsoever.

"I don't treat you like a toy. You're the one that insists on being a constant irritant to me."

"Where I come from, they call that flirting."

Oh...wow.

Did she just admit that?

Outloud?

That's when he stops in mid-air, right over the treetops, which means she barrels on ahead without him.

She's gotten quite a distance away from Brainy before she realizes that he's not following her.

That he's just stopped in mid-air.

That he's just...staring straight ahead.

Cripes. I think I broke him.

Slowly, she makes her way back towards him.

When she gets close, he seems to back away just a little bit.

Kara freezes, knitting her eyebrows together.

That's...not the reaction she was...well, not that she was looking for a reaction, but if she had been, that wouldn't have been the one she wanted.

What, did she have crystals sprouting out of her body or something? A quick check proved that wasn't the case.

Then...what?

"Brainy?"

He looks down at the treetops, his body language distinctly uncomfortable. If only he had something he could hold in his hands and fiddle around with so he didn't have to look her in the eye--oh wait.

He's trying to process this information, but it's difficult.

Ultimately, the conclusion he comes to is perhaps more painful (why is it painful when he doesn't care about her at all? he wonders) but ultimately the only he thinks seems most likely to be true.

"I know you must do it because my reactions to your...behavior are likely entertaining, but I find it distinctly discomfiting. Please stop."

Please stop flirting with the socially retarded nerd just because you think it's funny when he flails, Kara.

Because he knows the alternative, that you might actually like him, certainly can't be true.

Kara licks her lips, studying him. Is he...being serious? Like, entirely serious? Doesn't he know? Can't he tell? You don't have that many...moments...between two people just think that it's all a joke!

"Is that why you think I'm always coming to talk to you? Because your discomfort amuses me?"

"That seems the most accurate conclusion, given your behavior, yes."

Others come to talk to him, spend time with him, but the only reason someone would come back over and over and seem to be so fascinated with him, the only reason she would act so...oddly, as if she had romantic interest in him certainly must be her trying to amuse herself.

Kara's eyes glaze over for a moment and her jaw goes slack. Disbelief is clearly written on her face for a moment. "The most accurate conclusion. Right." She zooms over to him and holds out Brainy's ~~security blanket~~ device. "Here," she says coldly. "I just remembered that I have someone else to go bully."

Snatching his omnicom back, there's an actual...hurt look on his face, just for a moment, before the shields are back up, and his own cold expression is there.

"Yes, well, I'm sorry I'm no longer entertaining for you now that I've discerned your ruse."

He believes her. He thinks he just got confirmation. She's going to flit off and tease someone else, and he's going to go without the recurring...warmth he was trying to pretend he wasn't fond of that her presence kept bringing him.

Of course that's how it is. Some had deep, genuine fondness for him, like his friends in the Legion, but a part of him knew that anyone that seemed to care about him more than that was likely being deceptive. Past experience had taught him that.

Inwardly, Brainiac 5 is cursing himself for not detecting the telltale signs of her social manipulation sooner.

"Yeah. My ruse. You're so smart, aren't you, Brainy? You saw right threw it all. I mean, look at me. Cute. Perky. Blonde. Gifted with incredible superpowers. Why would someone like me take a serious interest in someone like you, right?" Her voice is colder than usual, and for someone who's eyes would usually be flaring red at this point...they're not. Her breath is particularly icy though. She turns and flies away towards the exit of the sensorium. Stopping at the doorway, she turns back to Brainy. "Y'know, for someone with your codename, you can be a real idiot sometimes. Don't worry, though. I won't come and bother you again," she added before looking up at, well, where the ceiling should have been. "Stacy, you can drop the setting. Game over." And then she was out the door, heading for some place where she could be alone.

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cabbage-butt.livejournal.com - 2009-06-26 09:53 (UTC) - Expand

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