ximilialog | MINGLE | The "Everyone's Tired and Hungry" Post-Mission Pizza Party

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MINGLE | The "Everyone's Tired and Hungry" Post-Mission Pizza Party

CHARACTERS: Everyone! A free-for-all general chill-out time, thrown haphazardly together by a mad scientist.
LOCATION: The Mess Hall
DATE: Sometime after the mission. Y'all know.
CONTENT: The Orb Crew tries to relax for a hot goddamn minute.
WARNINGS: Likely drinking or drunkenness, the usual party antics. Very mildly image heavy, NSFW for naughty threads, properly marked.

It seems the party has been properly set up for you all! But of course, there's an exuberant amount of 'Newton*' flair added to it, and people can find all sorts of random things — markers for drawing on the pizza boxes (which he distinctly requested, super important) cover the tables, and it's clear by the one designed like a Pikachu and a dinosaur that he's already began scribbling on them. He's also made... board games literally comprised of pizza boxes as well, including Chess and Connect Four, which is lovingly set up side-by-side on a table and done with intent to annoy.

They've got one deck of cards for games, no chips; you'll have to just make some of your own out of pizza box cardboard. The most grand of all creation appears to be a normal-sized Skeeball table, made of flimsy material, with oranges for balls. It may or may not last the night, but it sure works for now!

There's a very strong bottle of liquor from their last mission open for everyone, and, well, it will get you drunk quite fast if you're not careful. But it's also a Bring Your Own Beer situation; hope you guys asked Viv for some to plan for the party!

Lastly, there's classic bar rock playing from an iPhone rigged to a speaker that looks very very cobbled together, from loose bits and bobs from the lab's many boxes. If you go fiddle with that phone's playlist, you may be able to find a small collection of songs that aren't rock, but are likely from the 90's or early 2000's.

And yes, there is a couch with a sign on it, designated specifically for people who wish to nap. If they'd like. Don't be rude, let people lay down when they're sleepy. (Maybe Newton just put that there for him, honestly.) There are 50 pizzas total, which is practically a whole-ass pizza per person, so enjoy! (And thanks, Viv!)

Feel free to bring your own flair to the party, if you'd like.

These are just a few things for a m b i e n c e.

(*If you mention him, he will appear like a terrible omen.)

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ Jim kind of really doesn't want to move right now. At all. Luckily at the moment he doesn't really have to do that to be able to glance sideways and look at Newt. Yep, still cute from this angle. ]

Yeah? Me neither.

[ Come to think of it— it's been a couple years now, huh. Who would've thought, Captain Kirk of all people. He'd even make a joke about it, if not for Newt mentioning the past month, leaving him quiet for a while.

Eventually he rolls onto his side, shifting around to make himself more comfortable. ]

You know, whenever you want to feel really good again, you know where to reach me.

[He looks over at Kirk, brow furrowing in both confusion surprise.

Him neither???? No way.]

What? Get outta here. [Maybe that's just one more notch for Kirk's confidence, but Newt couldn't imagine the guy went that long without some good sex. He looks like a damn supermodel. But he also lets it go as quickly as he'd latched on, huffing:] I'm guessing you've been really damn busy, too. Being a captain and all.

[He uses the edge of the blanket to wipe his stomach as clean as he can, and then settles back into the conversation, absently picking up Jim's hand and running his thumb along the lines of his palm. When people stick around long enough, they'll find he just — kinda loves absently touching.]

Honestly, I'll have to take you up on that, dude. If every other month's gonna be stressful, we might as well get out kicks where we can, huh?

[Hesitating, he looks over. Now's around the time his confidence wanes, especially as a method of self-preservation. For every one person who wants to linger around after the sex, there's five others who'd prefer to get up and go the moment they can. Which honestly doesn't bother him that much, but the thought of laying around and falling asleep by himself fills him with a sense of dread he hasn't been able to properly understand or explain to anyone else. Not Clara, not Yzak, and certainly not Hermann.]

Uh. You — heading off, soon?

What? I've been busy.

[ He laughs, but it's true. It's also in part due to everything that happened with Khan, the whole dying mess, it's just not the kind of thing he's even thought about for a while now. If anything he's unwittingly avoided getting that close to anyone since.

But that's all a little more depressing than he wants to be right now. He likes it more when Newt reaches for his hand, only humming and nodding in agreement to what he says. It's some great stress relief, that's for sure.

His head tilts a little when Newt looks over at him, though, amused and surprised by the question. His fingers curl around Newt's too, just for good measure. ]

I wasn't planning on it, no. Unless you don't want me to stay.

[ This is Newt's room, after all. Jim won't take it to heart if he wants him to go. ]

Hey, you're preaching to the choir, man!

The world was too busy almost ending every other week for me to get some quality ass.

[It seems like everyone here's got some traumatic stuff they're coming from, huh? But Newton realizes that's kind of a duh thing. What better time to have regrets than when the world's imploding around you? They were destined to all be messed up.

Relief brightens his face, both at the hand around his and the reply.]

No! No, I do. I just figured — you might have better things to do tonight. [He flops back against the pillow, more at ease.] If I'm honest, I'm kind of exhausted. I know it's shocking, but I'm not exactly the most responsible when it comes to sleeping normal hours, and I might've pushed it a little lately.

[He should probably wash up before bed.

It would be the responsible adult thing to do.

... Yeah. In theory. Totally.

But he's sleepy, so.]

Yeah, something like that.

[ Well, the world wasn't quite almost ending where he's from, but close enough. He's got the feeling that Newt's dealt with a lot worse than Jim has, barring his death experience. Wouldn't want to go through that one again. ]

If I had anything else to do, then I wouldn't have gone to your party, or come with you to your room.

[ Jim can't say he doesn't get the whole 'fuck and run' routine, he's done that plenty himself and has had a few do it to him too, but it's just not the kind of thing he likes to do anymore. Plus, like he said, it's been a while, and he really likes the thought of just cuddling up and falling asleep with Newt.

He's not about to make a fuss about the mess, either. They can definitely take care of that when they wake up. Jim will give him a hand and everything... ]

Who, you? [ He laughs softly. ] Yeah, I wouldn't have imagined that in a million years.

[ Draping his arm over Newt's midsection, he scoots closer to cuddle up to him, kissing his temple. ] Let me know if there's anything I can do to help you sleep.

[The warm outline of someone next to him would've honestly made him tear up, if he were drunk enough. Instead there's a reassurance that relaxes him beneath that layer of cooling sweat and post-sex homeliness. He thinks maybe tonight, he'll be spared any weird nightmares. He's too tethered by reality to bother with them.

Of course, he tries to play it off. Just a little.]

... Just being around's cool.

[And it is. Really. But after a moment, he points over Jim's shoulder.]

Think you could grab me that bottle on the nightstand?

[It's just some space-grade advil, upon inspection; the bottle's half-empty.]

[ Just being around, alright then, Jim can certainly do that. He's very comfortable too, though at some point he might tuck on those bed sheets to cover them both.

He glances over his shoulder when Newt asks for the bottle, twisting his torso slightly to get it for him. Definitely doesn't look like water. ]

What's this?

[Newton takes the bottle, popping two pills out and swallowing them dry, like it's some kinda daily vitamin. Then he gives the bottle a little shake at Kirk with a grin.]

You fucked me so hard I got a migraine.

[... Snort!

Amused at himself, he tosses the bottle absently off the side of the bed, like the mess-maker he is.]

Nah, I'm kidding. I just get headaches sometimes. It's not hard drugs or anything; left experimenting in my college years, pinky swear. [He breathes in deep, sighs softly, and closes his eyes as he nestles back against Kirk's splayed arm.] I'm just good at catching it before it gets obnoxious, so it's no big deal.

Edited 2021-09-01 01:42 (UTC)

[ That just makes Jim groan, eyes rolling as he pinches the tip of Newt's nose. Yeah, hilarious, mister.

He looks slightly more worried when Newt explains about the medication, though. ]

Sounds like a big deal.

[ Self-medication definitely sounds like a bad idea too, and he wants to ask more and suggest that Newt find a doctor here, but this also doesn't seem like the right time to poke at that particular topic. Plus, it does look like Newt's very much ready to fall asleep, so. ]

Feel free to wake me up if it bothers you in the middle of the night.

[ Jim's generally a light sleeper anyway; if Newt stirs too much in his sleep, he's likely to wake up. ]

Hey! [He swats harmlessly at Kirk's hand.] Anything's a big deal if you try hard enough. Just look up ancient articles about people reacting to Starbucks changing their cup designs.

[... The offer's super nice, though. Clara's usually the one in his bed if he wakes up in the middle of the night — uh. Sometimes you just share a bed for the fun of it, you know? But he's really hoping he doesn't bolt up or something embarrassing. Maybe he should tell him? Ugh. No, no, he's gonna take his chances.

So he just huddles a little closer, humming, closing his eyes to relax.]

My hero. Gonna fistfight the migraines for me, dude?

[A pause. And then, more softly:]

... I appreciate it, though. Thanks.

[ Lucky that Jim likes old movies so much, so he doesn't need to ask Newt what Starbucks is. He knows that much, at least, though most people from his time likely wouldn't. (He still has no fucking clue what Craigslist is, though.)

Jim huffs a chuckle, ready to tell Newt that yes, if that's what it takes then he could do that. But he appreciates Newt being a little more genuine with his next breath, giving his side a gentle squeeze. ] Don't mention it.

[Comforted, Newton drifts to sleep.

And like unfortunate clockwork-]

Disgusting.

[Dreaming. Newton's dreaming again. Pacing back and forth in that white, endless space that hums with neon tendrils under the ground. The shape of a long, overwhelming creature stands in front of him — one shape, but it's all of them, the whole hivemind. The precursors. Newton's confused at first, but his memory catches up like it does almost every night.]

Where...? God, not again-

You're a disgusting little creature; you all are, apparently.

[Newton glares up at the figure, heat burning in his face.]

Seriously? Am I infected with alien Christian fundamentalists, or what? You gonna call me out if I don't cover my ankles? Bunch of fucking prudes...

[The form cocks their head to the side. There's so many of them. There's just one of them. Newton's mind is trying to understand. It's like facing a single giant canon or a thousand pointed rifles.]

We're in your mind, Newton. We see all of you. You're a desperate thing, aren't you? Using people around you like shields. Hiding in their arms in any way you can. Like a frightened child.

[Newton growls tiredly:] I don't even know you're in my head when I'm awake.

You don't, but you feel it, and we see how you panic. It's not unlike the response humanity gives when we swing our weapons down on your civilizations; you scramble, you trip over yourself, you look for shelter or someone who can pull you from the rubble. It's all the same. Seven billion of you, one of you — it's predictable.

[Again and again, he has to hear this. It's not gonna matter. He never remembers it, never has, and he's not sure he ever will, and it's terrifying. How's he supposed to fight back against the control of something he isn't aware exists inside him?! Scared and angry, he yells back:]

Are you just here to point and laugh at me? Just — let me rest. Leave me alone. Why don't you fucking go away and leave me alone!?

Ah, there's the tantrum. [The creature steps closer, and Newton steps back from them. Its numerous beady eyes study him. Know him.] We've told you why. Over and over again. Don't pretend you can't remember while you're in here. You're smarter than that.

[Newt runs his hands over his head, bowing low. Thub, thub, his head goes.]

... Yeah, well. Fuck you. You guys are giving me a real headache, you know that? I can't even think.

It's an unfortunate side effect of having foreign invaders leeching into your brain matter.

[He laughs hoarsely.]

Sexy.

[The precursors stare at him. So many eyes on him.]

You enjoy trying to be funny, don't you? Makes you feel more in control. Regardless, it's a necessary sort of leeching. After all, we're — what would you call it...? Speedrunning a little. It takes time to overwrite your coding, and we can't have you so stable that you've got any sort of fighting chance. Hopefully we can get all of this messy human intimacy out of the way before it harshes our buzz.

[Newton looks up; he's not sure when his arms wrapped around himself, but this is usually how it ends. He looks caught off-guard.] ... Harshes your — you're sounding a little too human, there.

What good would we be using you, if we didn't learn how to sound like you? [The precursor's eyes flash hazel.] After all, we'll be in control of you eventually. We wouldn't want to rob the station of your winning personality.

[He swears he's looking into his own face, just before the dream smashes back into reality. He doesn't quite gasp awake, but his body tenses, eyes flying open to study the dark outlines of the room; there's a heavy arm over his torso, a warm presence at his back. Right — right, Kirk's here.

Like every other night, he searches his aching mind for any sort of memory of the dream, and again, he only finds black space... but he's not alone, at least. He reaches up quietly to lock his fingers around Kirk's, hoping it's not too much rustling — that it won't rouse the captain out of any peaceful sleep, and that neither will the heart racing in his chest.

You're safe, Newt thinks. You've got company. Nothing's gonna get you.

Most importantly, he's not alone with himself.]

Edited 2021-09-01 16:42 (UTC)

[ The rustling, however slight, does wake him up. He's a light sleeper to start with, and with Newt pressed so close to him, it's hard not to notice. Too many years ready to leap out of bed at the drop of a pin or a red alert blaring through the ship.

But he doesn't move, at least. He just stays still and feels Newt tense, then ease on the bed again, against him. He also doesn't talk, just in case Newt's close to falling back asleep, instead settling for giving his hand a light squeeze when he holds Jim's own, nuzzling just a little against the hair on his nape. Whatever that was, it's alright now, is what he means to say. But then of course he has absolutely no idea what that actually was. ]

[That makes two of them, Kirk.

Newt wishes he understood what the hell was up with his brain, but that's kind of something he's grappled with off and on for most of his life, y'know? So here he is, feeling a bit foolish, especially once he realizes that the other man knows he's woken up. It'd be better to just play it off, right?

Squinting at the small clock next to his bed, he can see it's been — five hours? He thinks it's been five hours. He's kept his glasses neatly folded next to that same clock, just so he doesn't go smashing them; they've suffered enough in the past.

He rubs a thumb over the hand, not turning over to face him. It's nice like this, anyway. Big spoon, little spoon. It's a favorite, even if he's little spoon way more often than not (thank you, Clara, for letting him be a big spoon, for the record).]

Sorry. Didn't mean to wake you up. Everything's good, though.

[Is it? He's not sure.]

Mm, it's fine, [ Jim murmurs, voice a little lazy. ] I'm a light sleeper anyway.

[ He doesn't bother opening his eyes when pressing his lips briefly to Newt's neck, more a comforting gesture than anything. He doesn't know what else to do to help with what he's assuming must've been just some bad dream. ]

Think you'll be able to fall back asleep?

[There's a bit of apology in his voice when he replies, laughing faintly:]

... Probably not.

[But he doesn't budge to get up, not yet. Even if he's not sure he'll get back to sleep, there's a gently grown comfort in not being alone right now. It's enough to help him settle, especially with those unfairly thoughtful kisses to his neck. His heart is still beating a little fast under the arm around him, but he's steady. Calm.]

Maybe I'll get up soon, help clean up the mess hall? And — I don't know... Work on projects I've been thinking about. I think I can get some work done before Hermann's early-bird ass shuffles into the lab and distracts me.

[ By that Jim absolutely didn't mean to imply that Newt should get up and leave just yet, no. This is nice and comfortable, even if they might not fall asleep. Doesn't mean they can't still rest for a bit. ]

Or you can just lie here with me. Maybe I can drag you into a shower in a bit.

[ They both are a bit messy from their activities after all, especially now that the sticky mess has dried up on their skin. ]

Wow, you mean he actually can exist and work in the same space as other people? Color me surprised.

[He hums, thoughtful, before shimmying deeper into the covers again.]

... Honestly, that sounds pretty nice. Good plan.

[It's pretty quiet, outside the room. Or at least, Newton can't hear much. Most people would probably go to bed with booze and pizza in their systems, right? Right. But then Jim speaks again, and he laughs.]

Yup. Survived the five years with him — barely, but it's doable. Besides... the guy's a genius, and he's usually there when it matters most. So his sour attitude is a tolerable offense for me.

I just gotta get him to socialize more. He's harder to keep in a busy room worse than a big cat at a zoo.

[ He's all excellent ideas sometimes, see? No reason to leave the bed so early when it's nice and warm anyway. Jim doesn't care if they just cuddle and talk all the while, honestly. He's not likely to fall back asleep at this point either. ]

Tried that at the party. He fell only short of straight up telling me to piss off.

[ To be fair, Jim was laying it on pretty thick... but then he was genuinely just trying to be friendly, which was apparently the worst offense. ]

You guys come from the same place?

[That gets a startled, amused laugh out of him.]

God, I wish I'd seen it. He's such a buzzkill sometimes, I swear. [He rolls his eyes as he says it, of course, even if Kirk can't see him doing it. It's required.] It takes a long time to get him to open up and relax a little. The guy's been all business, even since our penpal days. Getting normal conversation out of him can be like pulling teeth.

... Which is nuts coming from me, because I thought I had a one-track mind.

[A pause.]

But yeah, same place. We were the last two PPDC scientists left standing between earth and a hostile alien takeover, if you can believe it. Cut funding, shared labs, lots of arguing.

[ Jim laughs softly at that, then shrugs. ] To be fair I did hit on him pretty hard, I don't think he liked that at all.

[ He certainly didn't like it as much as Newt did. Jim appreciated Newt's enthusiasm a whole lot more. ]

That seems to be a constant with scientists, go figure. You guys just love arguing. [ Healthily for the most part, though, Jim will give them that. ]

Oh, god, yeah. Hitting on him either goes unnoticed or gets slapped down so hard, you'd be concussed after.

[He's amused, though.]

Arguing is a sign of caring, right?

Or at least, that's what I'm hoping. But yeah, we get into it a lot. Kind of polar opposites, the two of us. Which... I don't know. I think it works? We've managed not to kill each other all these years.

I walked away unscathed, so I think I lucked out there at least.

[ Not sure he'd have liked to be literally slapped, but he doesn't think Newt's being literal about that at least... ]

Mm, guess he must like you, then. He didn't seem like the kind of guy who'd accept having just anyone around.

[Pfft!]

He tolerates me. Which I guess is a high enough honor, but it's not like he had much of a choice once we were stationed together.

We were penpals way before that, but when we met in person, we totally got into it and never talked again, until we both ended up in the same lab, like, way after. Funny how life works, huh?

Mm... I'd say it was fate, if I believed in that stuff.

[ Which he doesn't, at all. But it looks like they ended up stuck together regardless, which is kinda... cute? Jim can see their intense energy bouncing off each other, yes. ]

Don't know. I feel like even having to work together, people won't just stick together unless they care to some degree. I can only imagine you were the sole reason he even went to that party, because he sure as hell didn't seem to give a crap about anyone else there. Or the party itself.

MINGLE | The "Everyone's Tired and Hungry" Post-Mission Pizza Party

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hope you like hideously long dream tags :') im sorry!!!

FANTASTIC

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