open 🗡may staycation

[oiorpata]

CHARACTERS: andy + open!
LOCATION: various station spots
DATE: post vrefesea mission
CONTENT: misc downtime feat an axe
WARNINGS: temporary burns and gnarly injuries in closed starters



I 🗡 QUIT YOUR JOB

[ after the initial arrival back on the station, the kaiju blood is clean and her skin is ✨ clear ✨, but she lost track of joe in the chaos, and there are others she wants to check on now that there isn't a lizard monster determined to tear everything up. her clothes are a bit of a mess - torn from the fight, holey from the blood, revealing pockets of unmarked and uninjured skin as her ex-archeologist attire is no longer fit for service. but she is deeply unconcerned in the immediate about any exposures, especially now that she's rid herself of the acidic blue sludge. ]

[ her axe is neat on her back in its holster, guns tucked away, and she looks remarkably put together for a woman who just double-team killed the train monster. mostly she is moving through the orbers, but she'll stop at anyone who looks worse for wear, or at anyone she already knows even a nominal amount. she can't believe how concerned she's getting for these orbers. ugh. ]

You good? [ injured? in need of a snack? a literal lift to the infirmary?? ]

[ after the visits to the infirmary, andy makes her way to the kitchen. her axe is still at her back, her clothes are still a mess, but she wants a goddamn drink. for once in her life she doesn't steal the whole bottle of vodka, popping it open and pouring herself a full glass at the counter instead. it is roughly the size of a beer mug. ]

[ and then she just starts to chug it. water break?? no. this is better. snacks will be next. ]

II 🗡 LIVE IN THE WOODS

[ andy, as always, prefers the sunlight room. ]

[ perhaps today she is sitting beside the stream, barefoot with a smatter of tools scattered around her as she scrubs and cleans her axe. she made sure the kaiju blood was removed quickly and immediately, but it was a good reminder that it's probably due for a good fixer upper. the sun is warm, and she's in a dark tank top with black leggings, expertly wiping it down. at some point she switches over to sharpening it. ]

[ it's old as balls, just like she is, and it does not have the same healing properties. but she handles it with both great care and expertise. ]

[ if she's not with her axe, she is probably just sleeping. her feet dangle in the stream and she lays flat on her back, eyes closed. the sun feels nice on her face and she enjoys the quiet, save for the sound of the water. she won't miss anyone approaching, but she'll give it a minute to see if they pass before saying anything. ]

Come on in, the water's fine. [ the water is in fact chilly, and maybe she's not entirely asleep despite all appearances. there is also zero sign of injury, despite most assuredly coming in close contact with kaiju blood. ]

III 🗡 WILD CARD + POTENTIAL TRAINING

[ throw something at me or lets chat!! you can find me at communism or romanitas#5368 @ disco! wildcard me or we can do a custom thing! c:

[ definitely open to training stuff, especially if we've talked about it before, but i'd prefer to write up a custom thing given andy + weapons etc so hit me up if you'd like and lets plot! or drop one of your own design! you wanna learn to use any weapon at all?? andy's ur girl. ]

Comments

[catchatting]

I knew Yusuf could. Do you all heal like that? That must be handy. One time my team all had something similar, but they had to drink alcohol to get it and it was temporary, so I just had to trust them all to keep me alive. Uh... actually we didn't survive that one come to think of it.

[ She shakes her head like that's a totally normal thing to happen. ]

[oiorpata]

Yeah. Birds of a feather, or whatever the fuck that saying is. [ sometimes english idioms are hard. ]

[ andy makes a face. ] Is this a do-over time travel situation or did you come back to life?

[catchatting]

The Greek Fates killed us and then brought us back so they could trap us inside TV shows to punish us for valuing free will. I'm not sure which of those to classify that as.

[ Just another day in the life of a Legend. ]

[oiorpata]

[ she frowns, though it's more thoughtful than upset. she's a little used to the weirdness that comes out of zari's world. ]

Like, the actual Greek Fates? The Greeks always did have weird and kind of stupid values.

[ she's andromache the scythian ok. striking fear into the hearts of greeks was her thing! ]

[catchatting]

Yeah. I'm not really super knowledgeable about mythology stuff and so much of it winds up being real, but not correct to what we expect and anyway one of my teammates turned out to be Clotho all along and then we had to fight her sisters. Fate is stupid. I hate the idea that you don't make your choices, you know? Like, I get that there are fixed points in history we can't change, but that's different. That's not giving up your agency, you know?

[ Hi, she's got a lot of thoughts and feelings about this. ]

[oiorpata]

You've clearly thought about this a lot. [ she says it fondly. ]

The gods and shit aren't real back home, so it's safe to say I definitely subscribe to our choices being more important than whatever some mythological being thinks.

[catchatting]

How do you know they're not real? Where I'm from, most people haven't actually met any, but they still exist and most of them suck. Hell sucks, too, but Astra's kind of fabulous, anyway. Oh, she's my teammate who grew up in Hell.

[ She huffs. ]

Being here isn't all that different from being a Legend, except I think we might have made that last place worse...

[oiorpata]

I've done my research. [ you get worshipped as a god and maybe you believe it for a while, but eventually you realize it's not true and gods simply don't exist. just girly things. ]

I don't really think we can blame ourselves for a giant monster attack.

[catchatting]

Really? Because I think we brought the monster in. Or at least the guy who made it happen.

[ Zari might be feeling some residual guilt about the fact that she knew something was wrong with him. ]

[oiorpata]

We're not going to sit here blaming ourselves for the actions of a bunch of evil aliens.

[ this is starting to become a trend. ]

I'm not saying it wasn't fucked up or dangerous. But Newt was possessed and us not realizing feels like exactly what the aforementioned aliens were hoping for.

[catchatting]

[ Zari looks around quickly to make sure no one else is paying attention and then she leans in close to whisper. ]

I knew something was wrong with him. I told him to talk to Leonard, but I don't think he did and I didn't say anything because I thought it was just a mental health thing. I didn't want to betray his trust, but what if I could have helped? I totally should have said something, right?

[oiorpata]

Zari. [ andy says her name both firmly and gently. ]

This isn't your fault. Even if you did see something off with him, not realizing it was literal possession doesn't mean you fucked up.

[catchatting]

No, you don't understand. I didn't notice my own boyfriend was drinking this weird magic crap until it got him so messed up that he betrayed us and got himself killed. I didn't say anything even though I knew that something was wrong with Newt's mental health. Am I just that self-centered? How can I be a hero when I can't even protect the people right here?

[ Her eyes are pleading as she asks, as if Andy can offer some sort of salvation from it all, but the truth is Zari knows she's just... not that great at the things that matter. ]

[oiorpata]

[ well, it certainly puts into more perspective why zari is blaming herself here. ]

[ andy sighs gently, then reaches out and puts her hand softly around the back of zari's neck. it's a soft gesture, and she will pull zari in for another hug if need be. ]

We aren't responsible that way for our loved ones addictions or a lapse in mental health. Humans, even ones who call themselves heroes, are incredibly flawed. Neither your boyfriend nor Newt's situation is your fault, even if you're feeling like you could have pushed harder.

I'm not saying we shouldn't look out for each other, or help when we can, but it's not a one and done thing, where missing one piece means you're a failure.

[ hm. just not gonna think about the implications of what she's saying for herself. ]

[catchatting]

[ The tension in Zari's shoulders melts and she is just going in for that hug because she does need it.

Andy's got good judgment and Zari wants to trust her words. She wants to believe it and maybe she can eventually, but for now she'll take the fact that Andy believes it. ]

I bet you're a really good leader.

[oiorpata]

[ she wraps her arms around zari easily. comfort hugs are another skill of hers, alongside battle axes, and her hold is tight enough to offer that steadiness. ]

My boys don't call me boss just for the hell of it. [ a beat. ] Mostly.

[ she is definitely their leader, but boss isn't really a status thing so much as an affectionate nickname. ]