unless you're bullet proof || open (with some closed prompts in comments)

[swordandshield]

CHARACTERS: Felix, closed prompts for Kazuma, Finn and Steve, and OTA prompts
LOCATION: various around Ximilia station
DATE: the weeks post-Die is Cast mission
CONTENT: boredom in the infirmary, escaping said infirmary, random tidbits; giving Kazuma his pocketwatch back, training Finn and Steve
WARNINGS: language, whiny bored manchild, maybe mild violence in training

i. we set to survive || infirmary

[Felix barely remembered getting to the infirmary. He was pretty sure someone dragged his limp body through the hallways to get him here after their arrival back on the station. Lucky for everyone involved he didn't have his armor on. Everyone but him actually.

What was done was done. Felix could hardly move to scratch his nose even now that he was back on the station, pumped full of medicine, liquids, magic, and whatever else this place had for healing methods all combined. He hoped they mixed better than meds and alcohol generally did not in his personal experience because otherwise he was not looking forward to his days here.

A week's worth of time. He was stuck in the infirmary recuperating his strength for a full goddamn week. Every second of it was dull and aching and boring when he wasn't flat out sleeping off the pain.]

When can I leave?

[He asked often as if he wasn't still using up all his energy just to lift a glass of water to his mouth. Thank fuck for straws.]

Why are you here?

Fuck. That hurts!

This is the longest time I've spent in an infirmary and I hate it.

Just give me a damn book to read, I don't care what it is.

[Were also common things he said to whoever came too close. He was miserable, bored, and everyone around was damn well going to know it.]

ii. we tread, we rise, on earth can't keep us || hallways from infirmary to rooms

[After a week passed, Felix was ready to get the hell out of the infirmary. Except perhaps his body wasn't quite as ready as his mind would have liked. It took him a few tries to make it off the bed quietly enough not to alert a damn medic or helper. Then it was an effort to make it out of the door without his legs giving out on him.

When he made it into the hallway he felt instant relief--followed quickly by the urge to sit the fuck down. Just slide down the wall and plop his ass on the floor. He somehow managed to resist the urge and put one foot in front of the other. Felix was determined to make it to his room before he passed out. He had walked farther and survived worse than this, he could manage a simple walk down the hall to his quarters. Despite his determination however, his hand stayed against the wall for added support.

And he didn't necessarily make it to his room without being caught. He was easy to spot whenever he stopped to regain some strength every so often, leaned heavily against the wall just to stay upright. Hopefully no one would try to put him back in the infirmary. He was very insistent he just get to his room. He'd be fine after that.]

iii. it's lonely on the other side || common area(s)

[A few more days passed while Felix stayed in his room well away from everyone else. It was nice but Felix was used to social interaction on a near daily basis. He couldn't stay hidden away forever.

When he reemerged he had somehow managed to get his armor on by himself. His swagger returned with the comforting shell of form fitting undersuit and carapace-like outer armor. He no longer limped or held his hand against the wall for support although those with a careful eye might notice he did pause every so often possibly to regain his strength. But the armor hid the rest and supported him with its shape and powered form. It held him in place. He felt better with it around him. He wasn't going to take it back off for a while.

During lunch and super times he could be found in the cafeteria. His helmet was off while he ate, set aside on the table near him. Anyone trying to touch it would get their hand slapped.

In the common area he could sometimes be spotted lounging in a chair with a book in hand. Yes, he did manage to lounge while in his full set of armor. He even managed to look comfortable. Keep him company and he might read a passage from his book out loud for entertainment. It seemed to bring him some calm and comfort to read for an audience.

In the training room the mercenary found out rapidly that his usual work-out routine was still a little bit too much for him. A piece of equipment clattered to the ground angrily as Felix threw it to the ground in frustration one late evening. Even with the armor supporting him he grew tired too fast. He had to take breaks often and reevaluate his routine to suit his current condition. It irritated the hell out of him so he made for a poor exercise partner at the moment.]

iv. wildcard!

[something else you'd like to do? hit me with something! or give me a ping via PM or AisuYoukai for plotting.]

Comments

wildcard

[heyciri]

( She's not good at staying still, and short as the time is meant to be on station before they're sent on what will be her first mission, she still can't keep herself contained. In no small part because the station is too contained, the dark outside the windows not the balm of a cold, quiet night, but an emptiness more cold and vast than she's comfortable navigating. The stars don't have any reassuring twinkles, and what points of light she makes out through staring provide no familiarity, just the illusion of some light caught down in a dark valley before the one who carried the torch vanished behind an unseen landmark.

Which makes her warily curious about her 'crew' as it were, and the conversations over the strange earpiece. She adapts to it quickly, the concept of thought communication all too understandable. The text is disorienting, when it flashes across her vision, but even that she's learning to both read and ignore to some extent.

What catches her attention in this moment ends up being a form of weapon unfamiliar to her. Guns don't have a real equivalent in her world, at least not in a form she recognises when she observes what is visibly a target practise session from near the entrance of the training area. It's not an intentional shadowing before speaking, but an awareness that interrupting is rude, and curiosity can wait. If it'll ever get addressed anyway.

When she gets the chance, she'll speak out: )

What kind of weapon is that?

[swordandshield]

[Felix made it look easy. He was a sharpshooter during the war and his skills had not diminished over the years as a mercenary. He often set up multiple targets for himself at different angles and distances to fire upon and frequently switched targets mid-burst firing as he practiced. Most of his shots hit center of mass, and the ones that didn't hit as headshots instead. None of them missed, not even when he switched targets quickly.

Of course, he thought this sort of practice was too easy. He'd much prefer a moving target, especially one that was living. Less predictable, more challenging.

He was putting away his pistol and getting ready to clean up the range for the next person when he heard Ciri come up behind him and ask her question. Why was he not surprised there was yet another "ancient history" crew member added to the roster that had no idea how modern technology worked? He turned around to explain listlessly and paused before the first word even got out of his mouth.

Not only someone without knowledge of modern weaponry but another kid? What kind of sick game did this Orb like to play? Even Felix was disgusted by it. What kind of dumb regrets could these kids actually have anyway? He suppressed a sigh and instead straightened up his spine in attentiveness. He showed her his piece: a military efficient hand pistol that was light-weight and compact but with a decent kick. The perfect side piece when a soldier got really desperate or wanted to save ammunition for something more worthwhile.]

It's a type of gun. Specifically this one here is a pistol. To be exact- [He cut himself off and shook his head.] Nevermind, I don't want to overwhelm you with useless information.

But here's the cinch: there are many types of guns but the essence of it is that it's a weapon that fires projectiles or directed energy or something deadly at an enemy at high speeds that can either rip the enemy to shreds or vaporize whatever it touches. It uses technology, not magic, to operate and it's fairly easy for anyone to use. It takes practice to get good, but all you essentially have to do is pull the trigger.

[heyciri]

( Pointedly, she keeps her distance, enough that it's likely she's thinking about his reach and her own reaction speeds. Her eyes are fine, as far as she's concerned, so watching him handle his odd weapon from where she does gives her... well. A view on it.

Then he starts speaking, and she pays attention, even if she agrees: largely, it's still useless information, because she has no context for it. A projectile weapon was apparent, from the last of what she'd seen. The force of its impact is surprising, based on what he says. She hardly sees why he needs to clarify that it uses technology, not magic, but then again it's not like she detects specifics of that anyway. Just that she's more used to technology than magic, whatever it is that she knows Yennefer did at Sodden. Whatever she can, in theory, do, which requires nothing outside of herself to shred or vaporize whatever she doesn't even have to touch.

It leaves her stomach vaguely upset, and she nods. )

More like a crossbow than a longbow in that sense.

( Winch it back, pull the trigger, there goes the bolt. She'd not done much of anything with either, but she knows of them, because no one is the granddaughter of her grandmother and remains unaware of the weapons of war. )

Its... what did you call what it shot? The things it shoots, how difficult are they to make? And isn't it possible to use magic with it?

( He was a bit too emphatic about the not magic. She doesn't smile, but if he has a read on teens, he can suss out she's definitely... absolutely... being a touch sassy about that, specifically. )

[swordandshield]

Yep, that's the idea behind it.

[More like a crossbow than a longbow, indeed. It simply got more complex and deadly as the years passed. Details weren't really needed to operate it, thankfully.]

Bullets. The ammunition for a gun is called a bullet. Making your own bullets is...feasible. Not sure if you'd consider it hard or not, but you'll need to be able to shape metal and you'd need a supply of gunpowder.

[He'd never really tried to make his own ammunition although he knew the concept behind it. He knew enough about guns and how they worked to customize or make his own from scratch if he really wanted to put in the effort. He wasn't really the type though. He barely got around to taking care of his gear here on the Ximilia--wasn't too used to someone else doing it for him. He knew how, had it ingrained into him while in the navy, but years as a mercenary had given him room to grow complacent.

An idiot move and he knew it, but some things just couldn't be helped.

He frowned slightly at her question and thought about how to answer before he straight up dismissed the idea as ludicrous and insulting. He still hated magic. But at this point it had saved his life practically two times (and almost took it the once) so he had to give it some merit. He still gave her a look for the sass though. He'd gotten enough of that over the past month or so from his time with Finn to recognize it when he saw it.]

...Maybe. I don't do magic so I wouldn't know how that would work. Seems redundant? The bullet does enough damage on its own.

[heyciri]

( She shrugs at his comment on redundancy. She agrees, but in the sense that things which cause death on their own do well enough on their own, and magic, magic isn't needed to kill. But it can kill impressively. Can defend impressively, too. Can near kill the defender, the attacker, or outright do the killing, too. )

Don't know. People do enough damage without weapons or magic. Death isn't the hardest thing to cause. Might be one of the hardest to avoid.

( Known from both sides by her, and her slow growing body count. Will being here slow that down further? Geralt had helped her with some perspective, with his offhand and pointed remark about her needing to catch up, if her body count was ever going to match his.

Ciri swallows, looking back at the gun. )

So you could have the machine here make more of the bullets. If it has gunpowder?

( Better to focus on immediate realities. This is a gun. A whole subtype of weapon, and all she knows about it now has been learned in the last two minutes. )

Do they work in all conditions?

[swordandshield]

[Well, he couldn't disagree with that. People did a lot of damage without always trying, that was true. Weapons just made it more obvious and harder to ignore because it was physical and they were typically made with maximum pain and killing power.

But there was no point in responding to that tangent. Felix left it alone for now.

Answering her questions was a (relatively) safer option right now. He accommodated.]

Yeah, that machine in the armory will make more bullets. I don't know where it gets its material for crafting, but I'll let the AI worry about that. So far I haven't had it exhaust its capabilities for making items.

[Not that he had really tried to see how long that would take but he had created quite a plethora of weapons for himself over the time he'd been here so far. It felt nice to have access to an arsenal similar to what he was used to having back in his own galaxy.]

A good gun will. But you have to be aware of the manufacture's specs for their weaponry if you want to know for sure.

Here. [Felix reached out and grabbed her hand then placed his pistol into her palm. The lack of manners for personal space didn't seem to matter to him.] This is a good piece. It'll fire just as readily under water as regular atmosphere or the vacuum of space.

[heyciri]

( She starts when he grabs her hand, but doesn't yank it away; with the weight of the pistol in her palm, her fingers close around it, tight enough for a decent hold. She's stiff, not pleased at the breach of personal space, but also not making it an issue. For now.

Now she's weighing the weapon in her hand, brow furrowing as she stares down at it. Particulars of what he says are meaningless to her—vacuum? Of what?—but the gist makes sense.

This weapon wasn't inhibited by whatever situation it was in. Weather wise, or... environment wise? )

No issue with cold or heat?

( If she understood the vacuum of space, she'd already have at least one answer for that. Hefting the pistol, she holds it up something like what she'd seen him do, bringing her other hand around to... she's not sure. She cups the base of her hand holding the pistol. Her finger isn't on the trigger, and she's more sighting along it, like she knows you do with a bow. Not a weapon she's trained with, but she's seen it often enough to know what in theory you were supposed to do. )

[swordandshield]

No issue. Not this weapon.

[He watched her take the gun and mimic the motions. Good girl.]

That's right. Now, when you look down the barrell you'll see the two notches on the end. If you aim between those notches you'll hit your target. I've kept up the maintenance on this one so it's sights are dead on. If you ever get a gun you think the sights are off, you'll have to adjust them or compensate on the fly.

[He took a few steps around her, examining her stance and posture, little things that sometimes made a big difference, especially for a beginner.]

You wanna give it a shot?

[heyciri]

( Parts of this feel like instruction she's had between sword play and keeping focus, adjusting to what's happening without losing focus, and the time on the witcher's training grounds. Run the gauntlet, learn to recover. Learn how to fall without making it all worse.

She looks down the weapon's short length, seeing the notches he tells her about. Looking through them as a focal point, and lining up with whatever first catches her eye. A mark on the far wall, not one of the targets he'd been using.

His question is one she wants to say yes to, but she pauses, lowering the gun, turning her head toward him. )

What do you want in return?

( This isn't Kaer Morhen. This isn't Yennefer, when she was using Ciri to try and save herself, before she used herself willingly to save Ciri. This isn't Geralt understanding what Ciri needs when Ciri barely understands it, and teaching her sword forms, how to start defending herself with a power she can rely on: herself. This isn't holding a big ball meant to inform her somehow about her magic, only to be left cracked and broken when people had once again invaded a sanctuary and stained it in blood and death and ashes.

Negotiating what this place is, what it means to be part of this crew hunting after orbs and for the hope, the determination, of changing what it was they regretted, that's unifying and strange at the same time. She doesn't know what people here want. More functional teammates? Reliable backup? People to throw at problems while they find their own less dangerous solutions? Sabriel said no one'd died yet, but that doesn't mean everyone gets on, or ever will. Or that people aren't scheming for their own benefit, however little that makes personal sense to her in the situation. She still doesn't know. The kindness of strangers is a beautiful, wonderful thing.

And it's led to a lot of dead strangers to add to her list of regrets. )

[swordandshield]

[Felix's reaction was rather placid for someone who was so amused by her question. He raised an eyebrow as if questioning her own dubiousness. In reality, he was a little bit impressed with the practicality of it. The awareness of how the world truly worked. Nothing was given for free. That was the life lesson Felix had learned long ago. It's what he expected as typical.

Not everyone saw things the same way as him. It was as useful from a manipulative point of view as it was annoying from a personal perspective. He viewed everyone else as idiots and ignorant fools. But that made them easy to deceive and manipulate for his own purposes.

Ciri was one step ahead of the rest of the world as far as Felix was concerned.

His expression shifted to a weak smile, not trying to convince her of his sincerity so much as understanding where her question came from. It was hard to navigate people and the way they worked. She might have even been right about him wanting something in return. No point in lying when a well timed truth would do the same work for him. Maybe even better.]

Well, the way things work here it's in everyone's best interest that crew members carrying weapons know how to use those weapons. There's been more than one battle during these missions we go on, and no one likes to get shot by friendly fire.

[He paused briefly then continued on.]

There's no money here, no reason for it, and I'm not asking for any major favors. Honestly, I just really hate being shot in the back. Or the leg. Or anywhere else. But mostly the leg, I don't think it could take another bullet and come out working properly anymore.

[Go on, ask him how many times he's been shot in the leg. It's a bitch to deal with, even when he knows it's coming due to some very dubious scheming on his part with his partner.]

[heyciri]

( She listens, and nods a bit as he speaks, because in her experience, that's enough to make sense. There's no financial motivations here, which is... helpful in ways, but people don't just sell each other out for money. Fear is a motivator. Advantage is another.

(After the next mission, she'll also know that pain is an exchange. The orb will whisper a crewmate's pain, their injury, is a currency. For now, she does not know.) )

Like an arrow to a knee, ruins a whole day.

( Said with something of a half smile, though she's mostly serious. She glances to the gun, then to Felix, not necessarily trusting (not for anything from him, she's not trusting as a rule of being too burned by adults who have their own agendas and nothing good in them for her), but considering. )

If you're willing, I'd prefer knowing how to avoid injuring the crew here. In case weapons like these are what we need to use on future missions.

( Or her magic isn't stable enough to react, or any of many different things she can imagine. There's an advantage in distance she can see here: and as Geralt has said, weapons are one form of power. Having them, knowing their use, and trusting in yourself to use them gives you an advantage over those who don't and against all those who do. )

[swordandshield]

Ugh, the knee is even worse! I do not need any knee pain on rainy days especially since I don't know if it's possible to go bionic here.

[Which is both cool and not at the same time. A fake limb meant you were too slow or too unlucky to prevent it, and yet the advantages were not inconsiderable. He'd seen them in action. Some were quite impressive.

Felix smiled as she acquiesced to lessons and nodded.]

You bet. I'll show you how guns work. [He dipped his chin towards the pistol in her hand to indicate it specifically.] We'll start with that one. It'll be easy to handle and quick to teach you the basics for safety and maintenance. Once you know one kind of firearm, it's fairly easy to apply it to most others. But I can show you more when you've got some idea what you're dealing with.

[heyciri]

Bionic?

( Another curious look, paired with slightly lifted brows, though she doesn't pursue it: people pepper their speech with all sorts of contextless words around here, and only sometimes can she make an educated enough guess to think maybe I do know what they mean. Other times, resigning to not knowing at all.

Settling into business, or at least the expectations of what training has been like for her in recent memory, she nods. )

Starting now?

( Clarity is part of it all. )

[swordandshield]

Fake limb. Mechanical. A good one can be powerful.

[He answered her question anyway. If she had shown more interest he might have explained in more detail but he left it at that. She was either eager or expecting him to be ready since he offered. He didn't mind.]

If you want we can start now, sure. If you're interested in continuing, we can set a time for training throughout the weeks on the station. It doesn't look hard, and it's not, but I suggest keeping in practice. And I can show you the full range of maintenance and other types of firearms.

[He made a gesture that sort of said 'what do you think? interested?']

[heyciri]

Oh? Back home you mostly saw hooks or wooden ones.

( Also lingering from wars fought before she was alive or aware enough to know the battles her grandmother was fighting, but that's secondary to her consideration now. Her grandmother had been the Lioness of Cintra in the way that Ciri was only finding her stumbling path to being the Lion Cub growing into anything other than the protected princess she had been.

When he says they can start now, she blinks once, then nods, firm. If there's anything to be said for her, it's that she doesn't complain when it comes to training, and she settles into it with a fierce determination. )

It won't be daily?

( Genuine question, not for length of duration, but because that's how her sword practise has gone. It's a large commitment from a stranger, who unlike Geralt or the eventual grudging respect of the other witchers, has no reason to want to donate that much time. Ciri's aware of it, so she considers this a sensible negotiation, looking to Felix with that same determined question, and only a hint of her uncertainty in the set of her shoulders.

She's interested, and she's doing the mental math for how much time she should be practising on her own, because even if he's not somehow willing (she can't imagine anyone on station would be, it just doesn't occur to her) she knows that this only works when she drills and drills and drills herself. She's not naturally talented in fighting, but she will, and does, work for it. )

[swordandshield]

Now that is old fashioned. [Seriously. Like straight out of an old sea pirate movie. Guess that was the kind of world she was from.] I'd hate to be stuck with that.

[He'd rather not lose any limbs at all, as stated. Anyway, he angles his head to look at her studiously for a moment. He should be less surprised by the question to be honest. It seemed every kid on this station was eager to learn. Which was weird because usually kids were trying to get out of school lessons. Maybe it was just the subject material around here. Normal public schools didn't exactly teach firearm safety or knife fight lessons.

And they were all here for a reason that wasn't sunshine and puppies, let's face it. They had to be prepared. This was a good way to go.]

Well I didn't want to scare you away. I'd go with daily practice if not lessons but if you've got the spare time...

[They all had spare time here. At least in between missions anyway. He practiced daily himself since there was nothing else to do and the supplies were, nearly, limitless. Though they had all the time in the world he might have to rearrange his schedule if he kept offering to teach lessons on a daily basis like this. At least some he could group together. Hm.]

[heyciri]

Hooks are good for blunt force and tearing wounds.

( said so matter of fact that if he weren't looking to her face, where a glint in her eyes indicates this is a jest and not something she's saying deadpan seriously.

... see, see, anyone would hate to be "stuck" through with that! )

We're stuck in a small one story mansion, for all intents and purposes. Don't we all have time to spare?

( that's less a joke and more a serious thought on her part. what else is she going to do to fill the hours outside of train? in whatever it is, between magic, this concept of guns, in swordplay, in everything practical she doesn't know enough of. starting to address her regret means taking action now.

not waiting to be good enough for the orb to go, you're right. you can go back and have your regret all undone how you wish now. )

I'd like to spend some of mine on this.