And We're Gonna Pull Through [Bendytimed to After System Shock]

[iselldrugstothecommunity]

It's probably a solid two weeks before Christmas is due, assuming that their Thanksgiving dinner was on schedule which, given the nature of the ship, it presumably wasn't. But the robot attack was terrifying and disheartening and exhausting, and Howard wants a holiday, so according to him, it's Christmas. A nice, relaxing break from things trying to kill them.

Aside from this strand of Christmas lights doing its damnedest to strangle him, that is. Howard's managed to get it around his neck, and if it weren't for the fact that finding light strands is hard enough on Stacy, would be cutting it off with scissors.

He's still a bit beat-up, bandages around his head and his knees and one looping around his torso, under his shirt, but thanks to the healers and medical technology on Stacy he's not in much pain. His foot being in a brace is the worst of it.

He's managed to salvage an old plastic tree from a run-down building. A few packets of hot cocoa from the Warehouse sit on the table. Flossy Raptor is downstairs and dressed in a Santa hat and bizarrely, a feather boa in a shade of green too lime-ish to be Christmassy. A clunky-looking dog-sized gift for Zouichi is by the couch, wrapped in tin foil and newsprint, and another is on the table for Karis, although it's unwrapped. No one else quite makes Howard's list this year.

He pulls his way out of the tangle of lights. Christmas numero dos sans his family. Christmas numero uno on Stacy. He finds he's less okay with the former than he was last year, but more okay with the latter than he'd presumed.

Anyone who walks into the kitchen of the Susono Inn will be greeted by the rare and unusual sound of Howard humming. Go Tell It On the Mountain, actually. He even sings the section of the first verse that he vaguely remembers under his breath.

"Go tell it on the mountain, up over the hills and everywhere, go tell it on the mountain, tell them something, I don't care."

Comments

[kaya-waterwave.livejournal.com]

"It's one of those missions where you don't have to like what the rules are, just go with it for that one day. I'd rather help out a whole bunch of people in disguise than make a lot of noise about something as small as showing myself. My first teacher actually did something like that once."

Kaya laughed. "I don't think most of them are accustomed to having had to eat roaches, so it comes as a bit of a shock."

[iselldrugstothecommunity]

"You're such a goody two shoes. Seriously. You should get your sugar gland checked." He rolls his eyes, but it's more good-natured this time.

"Most people just take it for granted. It seriously pisses me off." He sounds sad as he says that.

[kaya-waterwave.livejournal.com]

"Well excuse me for being a good person!" Kaya shot back, who actually wasn't offended at all. Really, the way they argued was a little bit like Jamie and her when they first met.

"I guess the genuine idea is if they have to lose everything they know and love and be stuck on Stacy, the very least they can get is food they can savor. I can share your anger though, since they do almost nothing to actually make that happen! Good food doesn't make itself!"

[iselldrugstothecommunity]

Howard shakes his head. "You'd think that if you lose everything you know and love, which admittedly for some of us isn't a hell of a lot, you'd have bigger concerns than the food. It just makes me feel crazy, is all. For not caring."

He sounds actually sad when he says that. The food issue is just one of many that makes him feel different and isolated on the ship.

[kaya-waterwave.livejournal.com]

Even Kaya had to admit to herself that Howard had a point. She could try and defend it, but food not being as good as back home had little to no real relevance to her. Sure, she'd found way to get access to better food, but it had never been something she thought was worth actually complaining about.

"Maybe it just makes them feel a little more in control of themselves, complaining about something small. It's little things like that, I think, that stop some people from losing it."

[iselldrugstothecommunity]

He nods. "I guess. It just makes me feel..."

He shrugs. "I feel like I'm the only one with priorities here, and then when no one else cares I just feel like there's something wrong with me. That's why it pisses me off."

[kaya-waterwave.livejournal.com]

"You're far from being the only person that feels that way, trust me," Kaya said. "Goody two shoes or not, the moment I got here I wanted to be an asset to this ship. It was why I started the Outsiders, why I trained my butt off to become stronger, why I was trying to be a nurse for a little while."

She sighed. "When it comes down to it, the longer that we go without proper training and seriousness, the less prepared we'll be when the actual Ohm come for us."

[iselldrugstothecommunity]

"I don't even want to be an asset. I just want to feel safe for like, five minutes. That's all I want is five minutes." He shakes his head. "Guess that's asking a lot in a war, though."

[kaya-waterwave.livejournal.com]

"Feeling safe isn't even something I feel comfortable with," Kaya said, rolling her eyes. "Usually when there's a lull, that means that something worse is coming. But there are places on the ship to take your mind off that for a little while, I guess."

[iselldrugstothecommunity]

He nods. Wow, Kaya, you're keeping up with his cynicism. "That's what I mean. That you're so used to being unsafe that even the idea of being safe feels inherently unsafe. I hate it."

[kaya-waterwave.livejournal.com]

Sadly, Kaya wasn't exactly in the forgiving mood. She may have understood why people wanted to pretend things were better after the fight, but actually DOING nothing about it just seemed to make a mockery of all that had been fought about to begin with.

"It's not the best way to live, but its a way to survive," she said quietly, thinking of Zhin. "In the end, its that basic part of us that wants to live, so expecting the unexpected doesn't leave us defenseless."