open 🗡 sea you later ocean

[oiorpata]

CHARACTERS: andy + you!
LOCATION: misc rooms on station
DATE: post wish full mission
CONTENT: getting crunk, breaking stuff, hiking, ???
WARNINGS: alcoholism cw, will add others as needed



I 🗡 THE BLADE ITSELF INCITES TO DEEDS OF VIOLENCE

[ she could ask joe or nicky or even booker, but the kind of violence andy wants to do now that she is free from the sea isn't fair to put even on them, even though they could handle it and come back from it. she doesn't know if she wants to fight a person so much as simply destroy something. ]

[ so very shortly after returning to the station from a long few days (weeks?) under the ocean, andy gathers up a bottle of vodka, a couple of snack bags, and a few different weapons from her collection, taking them all to the training room at an odd hour of the day (or night), with the intention of going to town on the dummies. she's wearing leggings and a sports bra for ease of movement, with low but snug boots. ]

[ she downs about half a bottle for her warm up and then immediately starts striking with a sword. there's no build up - it's just a slip into instant aggression, the blows landing with clear intent to harm. this is not practice for her. it's hack and slash for the sake of it. ]

[ in a slick and swift slice, the sword cleaves through the neck of a dummy, sending the head rolling across the floor towards the feet of a person who's just walked in. ]

It's all yours, I don't need it.

[ at the very end of it all, every dummy is in pieces. arms and legs have been hacked off from various points. heads are missing. chests are split open, sliced and stabbed in vital spaces. none of them are upright and the room is a mess. she'll tidy up in a bit, as she considers trying to program the simulation room with more. moving targets might be more useful, because she still has so much energy she wants to get out. ]

[ she hauls her axe over her shoulder and finishes up the remains of her vodka. a water would probably be smarter, but she isn't here to be smart. ]

II 🗡 IT IS THE WINE THAT LEADS ME ON

[ andy drinking is not a surprise. what might be instead is the actual wobble to her step, the glazed look in her eyes, because she is drunk. she still handles herself fairly well because her intention is to get absolutely trashed and she's not quite there yet, despite the trail of bottles she's left in her quest to get here. ]

[ she stumbles back into the kitchen and collides with one of the kitchen counters at the hip, but bounces off it and keeps moving towards the liquor cabinet, yanking it open and squinting inside before she pulls out a bottle of vodka. she doesn't quite startle if someone suddenly appears nearby, but she does tuck it in close. there is a small slur in her tone, quiet enough that it's blink and you miss it. ]

This one's mine. [ but there's more and she stares into the cabinet like she's debating a second bottle, even as she sways on her feet. ]

[ or maybe it's later in the sunlight room, where there are quite a few empty bottles abandoned in the grass as andy herself sits near the stream. she's holding one in her hand, alongside two more unopened beside her. it's dusk and she is waiting for the artificial sun to set, because she longs for the stars and these holograms will have to suffice for now. despite the state of her, she isn't unawares when she has company. ]

What's that fucking phrase? [ oh there is definitely more of a slur in her tone now, as she takes another sip straight from the bottle currently in her hand. ] Treat yourself?

[ this is not what treat yourself means, but it sounds about right for her. bottoms up! ]

III 🗡 EACH MAN DELIGHTS IN THE WORK THAT SUITS HIM BEST

[ if you saw andy the night before, absolutely hammered, it might be a surprise to see her mulling about the kitchen like normal. she's tired, but there's no sense of a hangover in her expression or movements. she's just her typical existential tired, gathering up a collection of food and shoving it into a backpack. there's a cereal bar half in her mouth as she chews at it, and she tucks in both a bottle of water and of whiskey alongside the food. she's dressed in comfortable pants and hiking boots with a long sleeve shirt, looking every bit like she's set for an adventure that is not meant for space. ]

[ no, today is the day she tries to program the simulation room. all on her own. because she wants to go on a fucking hike!!!! ]

If you could climb any mountain, what would you pick? [ just because andy has already climbed virtually all of them on earth doesn't mean she knows the kind of climb she wants today. she'll decide when she gets there. ]

[ or perhaps you enter the simulation room after she's done her best to program it and find yourself at the base of a smaller sized mountain ridge. it's green and deciduous, with a bright sun in the sky and a healthy smatter of clouds. she thought about trying to replicate denali, her favorite to solo, but ultimately decided something smaller that would just take her a few hours would be best, bringing her back in time to eat a real dinner. the prospect has her in much better spirits than she seems to have been the last few days, both on the mission itself and after the return. she sits on a log as she rummages through her backpack, just checking she's got all she needs before she Begins. ]

IV 🗡 SING, O MUSE (WILD CARD)

[ feel free to tap in at any point of time within the prompts! you can also hit me up at communism or via pm for plotting or chatting or custom starters etc!! c: ]

Comments

II

[morethan084]

[Daisy’s been worried about Andy ever since their talk on the last mission, and when she doesn’t answer her check in text, she’s immediately on a search for her. There’s only a few places she knows she’s likely to be at, first she goes to the kitchen before the sunlight room. It doesn’t take her long to spot Andy, the bottles surrounding her isn’t shocking. What is shocking, however, is that she seems to be drunk.]

Uh, yeah. People don’t usually use that phrase in this context—

[This is bizarre. Daisy’s never seen her drunk before, and it definitely feels like a cause for alarm. Taking a seat next to her, she pushes some of the empty bottles out of the way.]

How much have you had to drink?

[oiorpata]

[ andy saw the text, but she was in the middle of draining a bottle so she put it off till later and then promptly forgot when she started on the next bottle. but at the sound of daisy's voice, she tilts her head and looks over, though the outline of her friend blurs with the movement. despite that, she briefly smiles when daisy sits, because she never seems to mind daisy's company. ]

It's splurging. Right? I'm splurging. [ with money, but she hates capitalism so why can't she splurge on drinks??? ]

[ the quantity question has andy looking around at bottles in the grass, and she gestures vaguely at it. ] At least this much.

[morethan084]

I guess, yeah.

[Daisy is the last person to judge for drinking feelings away, and she’s seen Andy drink plenty of times. She’s just never seen her drink this much to the point that she’s actually shit faced.]

I didn’t think we even had this much alcohol on the station.

[She teases, smiling gently at Andy. Although there’s concern there too. Trying not to come on too strong with her concern, she fidgets it’s one of the empty bottles, glancing at her from the corner of her eye.]

I’ve never seen you drunk before. Didn’t think it was possible.

[oiorpata]

[ she got through a portion of her stash in her room, then opted to go raid the kitchens so she didn't completely deplete it. that was the last solidly thought of choice she made before nestling into the little spot here in the sunlight room. ]

It's not all from the kitchens. [ it's a good thing they're always a new stock in the supply drops. ]

[ she takes another few sips, relishing in the dizziness and blur of the scene. ] I told you. It just takes a lot. [ has she told her? andy's not actually sure about that one in retrospect. but it's daisy, so she offers out the bottle seconds later. ] I'll share with you though.

III

[deaddrop]

[Natasha hums thoughtfully at the question as though considering it. For all that she'll say she's a city girls she does know a thing or two about the wilderness.

And she can see the appeal of a climb.]

That depends. Am I interested in a hike, or a technical climb? And am I looking for something new, or something I've done before?

[Natasha leans against the wall, crossing her arms over her chest, under her breasts.]

I probably ought to say something new, something I missed before... but there are some views I wouldn't mind seeing again. I'd probably chose one of those.

[oiorpata]

[ all valid questions, to which andy does have answers for them all, but the point is to get ideas from others, so instead she just hums as she shoves the rest of the breakfast bar into her mouth. ]

A hike. Probably a few hours at most rather than something you need to pack a tent for. [ she doesn't want to hog the simulation room for that long. ]

So how about two answers, for something less than a day: a climb you want to do and a favorite.

[deaddrop]

I never climbed Aconcagua? [Natasha suggests. There are a lot of mountains she's never climbed. She wasn't lying when she said she was more of a city girl.

On the other hand, she does enjoy a climb and she has the skills.

It's a challenge.] I think I might have liked to.

[She hums then when she thinks about a favorite.] Mont Blanc?

[oiorpata]

Aconcagua's fun. So's Mont Blanc. My personal favorite's Denali.

[ she takes note of the 'might have liked to' part, wonders if she should ask? there's a subtle implication in the words that andy is sure natasha hasn't let go accidentally. ]

But I'm not sure any of the above qualifies for an afternoon out on the ridge.

III

[chrysology]

Not the one up North with the bears.

[Ed can at least say that much. To warn her not to go off there. Where there are bears, literal and human 'bears' as Ed put it when meeting one of General Armstrong's men up North in Briggs. She can go wherever she wants with that particular room, he knows. He just doesn't want her risking it even if she wasn't as able to regenerate if something were to happen to her. He has been up there and has heard the stories of Izumi, his teacher, fighting bears there during her alchemy training.]

[oiorpata]

What's wrong with the company of bears?

[ she is teasing, though the only sign of it is the grin that slips on her face, because she asks the question so genuinely. andy's encountered many a bear in her hikes, and sometimes they have not been uneventful or blood-free confrontations. sometimes she makes stupid decisions. but mostly she doesn't have a fear of wild animals either, even the deadly ones. ]

[chrysology]

They're big. Dangerous.

[He may be thinking of literal bears. But also that one guy under General Armstrong's command who also has auto-mail. Ed does note her grin, even if he does still answer. He isn't sure how potentially safe or how populated with wild animals that room might make it. Given he hasn't used it for anything like that. So it's hard to say. He just wants her and everyone else to be safe. Careful. Even if she can probably handle herself.]

I

[coordination]

[ Whether Andy notices it or not, she has an audience in the familiar form of Yzak. Though his form is absolutely a bit different than it usually is; missing his arm and still recovering so not quite radiating that loud, smug aura he usually has about him. He's got a loose button-up on, buttoned about halfway up so he doesn't irritate his right area which is still thickly bandaged up.

Yzak knows fighting styles, so he can tell that this isn't training, that Andy is here to vent, to just attack as much and as hard as she can.

He can also tell because he's done the same thing before. ]

How courteous. [ Sarcasm as he kicks the dummy head back in her direction. ]

[oiorpata]

[ she should probably be more considerate of the mess but mostly andy is annoyed because it wasn't quite enough. the aggression is pent up and still simmering. ]

[ she's heard about yzak's dismemberment but hadn't gone by the infirmary - she is very bad at the infirmary, like, as a concept. she forgets about it. she leans over and scoops up the head when it rolls back over to her, and she tosses it up once, catching it in her hand easily. ]

I could reattach it if you want to take a swing but it's not like it requires a follow up attack. [ unless you're andy in which case decapitation is fine, actually. ]

[coordination]

I don't think I'm looking to do that much just yet. [ He's still got to work on properly adjusting to this new balance before anything. ] Not that it's going to take me long, of course! [ Ever stubborn and ever determined, he has to make THAT clear. ]

You look as though you could still benefit from another round.

II

[aurable]

I'm hardly the competition. [ Drift said way too cheerily as Andy went on the defensive well before she saw him enter the kitchen. Entirely fair. If she had just heard footfalls and saw something human-shaped in her peripheral vision, he wouldn't have been her first guess. ]

You heard hooves and thought horse, not zebra, huh? [, given how she was swaying around like a weather vein, it would be a feat if anything, not task-focused, was passing between her ears.

Not that Drift was judging, because otherwise, he'd be a hypocrite. As Andy goes for the vodka, Drift goes to the freeze and pulls out a large green bottle with a frost-bitten label that reads NIGHTMARE FUEL. After scaring up a rocks glass, he makes camp at the kitchen island. ]

Would you mind some company?

[oiorpata]

I don't really have competition. [ well. quỳnh came the closest, but that's the reason she's drinking tonight in the first place! ]

[ she takes a slow sip of the bottle and stares at him for a moment, because the only thing her brain took in was something about a horse, mostly because she loves horses, and she spends a few seconds wishing she could go horseback riding before she realizes drift needs an answer. ] What the fuck are you talking about?

[ she watches him pull out his own drink though, one of the ones she hasn't touched because evidently it's not for human consumption. she takes a drink straight from her bottle. ] If you're that bored, but I'm not itching to stay in the kitchen long.

[aurable]

At this point, I think your liver could win at arm-wrestling if anyone tried. [ Drift attempted a joke but could hear the crickets the moment he spoke. Andy's confused stare all but confirmed the tough crowd he was facing. He awkwardly drummed the palms of his hands on the countertop of a few times. ] Right.

[ Another pull, another silence. ] Ships passing in the night, then. It's still nice to stop and talk, even briefly.

ii.

[farr]

[ this last mission hadn't been too good towards rita's previously rising self-confidence, something that saw itself plummet pathetically to the seafloor when she's seen what her "fish" form had been, another goopy-incarnate of the very image of herself she'd been trying so desperately to stay away from. but the return had proved to be much worse, with the sudden disappearance of billy (who'd surprisingly been one of her better friends here), along with some other familiar faces, and everything she'd had been excitedly believing in, all of her plans, they felt all increasingly far away from her again.

she could easily not be drunk if she wanted to — one of the tricks of having a morphing body as she does. but then what would be the point?

no, as she stumbles through the sunlight room, it's very much in a drunken state, flask in one hand, heels hanging from her fingers in the other as bare feet feel the soft but ticklish texture of the grass beneath them.

eventually, she finds andy, notable delight springing on her flushed cheeks as a partial loopy grin stretches from her lips. ]

Ah, Andy! [ she quickly steps over, losing her footing nearly at the end when she plops down suddenly at her side, dodging nearly sitting on her from her half-fall but instead landing very close to her, hip to hip, thigh to thigh — with rita's thigh almost bare as her skirt bundles up in the process. ]

Oh, that one's much better than mine. [ she lifts her chin to indicate the bottle before peering to her flash, taking another sip from it. ] Andy, Andy Andy. An...drew? Andrea? Antonia? No, that would be Tony then, wouldn't it? What is Andy short for?

[oiorpata]

[ the delight on andy's face matches rita's when the other woman walks in, and she'd pat the space beside her but rita already stumbles her way down. she smiles and blindly reaches a hand out in the vain hope of catching rita if she were to fall, but instead she simply lands neatly next to her. well, not that neatly all things considered, but it's close and warm and andy's glad for it and the spaces they touch. she's a creature who thrives on touch and it was a rough time under the sea. it is not better down where it's wetter. ]

That's because it's a near full bottle of fucking vodka. [ and the size of it alone means it's better than the flask. quantity not quality seems to be her goal this evening. her body likes to speed up the recovery process, so making the effects linger always takes so much more consumption. ]

[ you know, if she wasn't already wasted and thinking about a life with quỳnh before 'andy' existed, she's not sure it would have slipped out the same way when rita asks. but rita might be the first one to ask. ]

Andromache. [ she frowns, surprised at herself. she swirls the bottle twice then takes another sip. ] Though it could have just been Andy.

[farr]

[ maybe she should have settled on a bottle instead of a mere flask, but then again, it's only a portable version of what she'd already consumed over in the kitchen, having filled up more than a few glasses to get where she is. like andy, her body requires a lot more than normal to get to this point, and sometimes it proves to be an urgent necessity like tonight.

the name andy provides would have never been her guess, but she's not at all disappointed. in fact, her eyes almost light up. ]

Ah — Greek. The Iliad. [ because, as with all things, rita can associate most anything with literature and/or a play. ] It's quite pretty. Majestic. It suits you.

[ she leans in sideways a little closer, though not purposely, an earnest softer smile on her face as her eyes drift off, losing herself in a thought. ]

But you're right. It could have been. After all, we get to choose what name we want to be, anyway. If you want to be Andy, you can be Andy. If I want to be Rita Farr, I —

[ I can be Rita Farr, she finishes in her mind, rather than out loud, falling quiet with a brief tightening of her lips before she sighs. ] Or I can simply be ... Gertrude Cramp.

🏔🏔🏔-y wildcard

[malta]

[ joe is in a mood.

he is the oldest man alive and if people a 100th of his age are allowed to buckle under the weight of the trials and tribulations of existence and have quarter-life and mid-life and existential crises, joe thinks he is allowed to be in a mood. it seems fair.

the person least likely to judge him for it andy and climbing impossible peaks has been their shared hobby for centuries now — joe hates the cold but he loves the rush of euphoria at summiting (which is usually just the first symptom of altitude sickness if you're a fucking cynic) and the peace and camaraderie of being at the very top of the world with his best friend. sure they've died enough times to lose track on their quests to the top, but that is irrelevant. sitting at the top of the mountain, surveying lands he may well grow old enough to see vanish the way andy has seen lush grasslands turn to desert; it's humbling, serene, and joe wants to taste some of that fucking serenity.

this isn't a hike, but a climb, fingers scrabbling for purchase, focus narrowed down to where the next handhold is, the kind of climb they make into movies because it's insane. andy took one look at joe and programmed in a rock face that wouldn't allow him to think until they reached the top, legs dangling into open air as they sit and pass water bottles and granola bars back and forth. ]

Thanks. [ he does not mean for the water. ]

[oiorpata]

[ she DID consider denali. she misses it, it's been a while, and it's the only part of the states that andy has visited in the last decade or so* (*two decades). ]

[ andy knows joe too well; she knows all the pieces of him that have broken and repaired over the centuries and she knows pieces he no longer has, determined to remember joe the way she can't remember pieces of herself. one look at him and she knows immediately what kind of climb they need. maybe she needed to see him to realize it for herself too. she throws herself as eagerly into the reckless climb as joe, laughing and yelping the whole way up from the riskless danger. ]

[ she's out of breath in a pleasant way atop the cliff, actually drinking her water instead of her vodka and closing her eyes in the sunlight. it's fake, but she's gotten very good at ignoring that part. she reaches for the bar as joe offers it out, eyes still shut. ]

Don't get sentimental on me. [ she smiles though. that's her 'you're welcome.' ] I should thank you for the idea in the first place.

[malta]

You're welcome. [ he kicks out, knocking his foot against andy's ankle. they should not start a wrestling match at the top of a sheer cliff face but... they're assholes.

the ache of exertion has already left his muscles, but pleasant warmth lingers. the reminder of his body's strength and resilience is always nice. it's easy to lose sight of feeling alive when they're ever-living, but tackling mountains with andy always does it. something about the vitality and humanity of wanting to touch the sky. ]

I'm thinking of changing my regret.

III

[unclesam]

Wakhan Corridor seems great. But that's cheating - I'd just wanna fly through it.

[ Sam watches her preparations, leaning against a counter and sipping orange juice - from a glass, like most people, because Sam recognizes that his habit of drinking straight from bottles, jugs and cartons is maybe a little much to force on others who share the kitchen and foot items. So he behaves. He's in shorts and a t-shirt - actually on his back from the sim room. Morning jogs are nice when you have literal control over all conditions. ]

Mount Thor for the drop, similarly. Plus the jokes - I met the man himself.

[oiorpata]

[ the first part pulls a faint grin out of her. ] I've gone through the Wakhan Corridor so many times. By foot or horse, I should specify. Not all of us have retractable wings. It's beautiful though. You should do it.

[ it's what happens when you're a former steppe nomad who went back and forth across afghanistan too many times to count, before it even was afghanistan, before the corridor got it's name. ]

[ if andy saw him drinking out of a jug, she wouldn't blink an eye. give her time, she'll do it herself. ]

My brother and I did Mount Thor. [ they died twice each the first time, nicky called them insane for going again. ] Thor's not real on our Earth, but I respect the motivation.