ablativeholopleather | IC Contact/Inbox/HMD

How small is that?!

[no. she asks every day to be taller. she can't do this.]

Oh, only about hip height.

[She's already only about three apples high and now he's imagining that being knocked down to two!]

Absolutely not! I refuse to shrink!

[she says this as a declaration, and then eats a spoon of ice cream so fast it makes her pause - ugh. cold headache...]

[He fakes a thoughtful sort of hum, tapping his spoon against his chin briefly.]

Yeah you're probably better off, we might lose you somewhere and that'd suck.

If you lose me, I'm going to find you, and then I'm going to...

[she pauses.]

I don't have a very good punishment in mind for that.

So we'll do our best not to lose you.

[A good compromise, he feels. He takes a larger bite of his own ice cream at that, and just the same as she had, he ends up with that spike of pain right up behind his eyes. It is the certifiable worst.]

I'll tell Security you lost me. No, wait, that sounds childish...

[there's no good answer to this! meanwhile she's oblivious to Wayne's current set of problems.]

[Lucky for him that she can't see the way that he pauses and frowns at that. So now he feels bad and has a mild headache.]

I feel like that'd just make it like me even less, to be honest...

...Why do you think it doesn't like you?

[how does everyone not like Wayne, is more the question in her mind.]

It was kind of uh. Really offended when I called it the same way I do basically everyone. And it didn't like listening to me trying to stay optimistic about the situation when I only just got here. It only tolerated me when I checked in when it got sick.

[Though, he'd ended up staying there quietly hanging out for a while watching its tv show until it had dozed off to make sure it was okay and it was generally polite when that happened, so...progress?]

[so it had been in a more touchy mood that day. hm. she takes the last bite of her ice cream, and leans back a little in her chair.]

Would it surprise you if I said that none of that is actually an indication that it doesn't like you, and more a reflection on it instead?

[call her hopeful, but she'd like her friend and her...companion to get along if possible. she can't fix people's relationships, and nor will she try to force people to hold hands, but give someone a few years in your past, and you know a few more things about them than you did.]

[Wayne's spoon scrapes around the inside of his bowl as he thinks.]

It seems very...dour, I guess. Maybe it's not personal, but it feels bad I can't really do anything about it any more than I can get myself out of here. I can't trust dying to potentially get me home, like you said, and it was saying that potentially finding port somewhere to explore and maybe find answers was a useless endeavor, but I'm just not so sure about that. I know it's been here a lot longer than I have but having no more hope's kind of a sad life to lead.

[she's very, very quiet for a second, tilting her head side to side as if she's straining to hear something, and then nodding.]

Okay, I know it doesn't have a drone nearby, so I can be a little more frank. Security is...a very certain type of person. Do you want me to elaborate?

[When she starts listening really hard, he can't help but glance around, as if he might spot whatever she's searching for. He looks back to her when she speaks up again.]

Drone?

Oh...uh, sure. I mean if it makes things easier to navigate I'd appreciate the help.

[she folds her hands under her chin, and there's a definite note of fondness in her voice when she speaks - not conscious, but there all the same.]

It is...not the best person to be greeting new people. Security is something of a pessimist even on the best of days, though it might call itself "realistic" instead. It's rather blunt, because it doesn't always see the need to be as careful with its words as you or I might. Certain things that seem obvious to us as...organic people, they aren't when viewed through Security's mind.

Calling things like making port "useless" - something to understand about it is that it is focused on the present as opposed to the future. It wants to keep people safe, and right now, the best way to do so is to focus on what's right here. Not thinking about what could be, but what is. Ideas for the future, like landing somewhere...a better way to say it would be that currently, it's not as important as surviving the current moment.

That doesn't mean it's without hope. Just that it's not Security's priority at the time to express it. What it wants for the future, what it dreams about...if those things have to get placed further down on the list, they will be. All of this is not to say it was correct to be so sour, though. Just that I'm not surprised to know it happened. Tell me, what happened when you checked on it when it was ill?

[which she's grateful for. she couldn't play nursemaid 24/7, and knowing he was checking in only makes her fonder of Wayne.]

[Wayne listens quietly, turning it all over in his mind as he finishes off the last of his ice cream, then dragging his thumb around the bowl of the spoon with half a thought given to the chill of it. The way that Helena talks, he knows she must care about Security very much, taking into account both the rough parts and the positives of it.]

It seemed to kinda dwell on the bad things that have happened, like there's nothing good to be found, but like...I guess it's just worried. [It makes sense, in these circumstances. He's heard a few horror stories as he's gotten to know people, but as she had said, most of them were by and large pretty careful about the way they talk about it, or at least how they approach others about it.

He cracks a soft smile at the question.]

I was going down the hall from my cabin asking if anyone needed anything, since I didn't come down with anything and didn't seem to be a carrier. It looked miserable but it let me in so I could kind of tidy up around the place, make sure it was hydrated, then got it some tea. It seemed confused that I'd do something like that, but like, why not? I have the ability to help and there's no reason not to.

It invited me to hang out and watch tv for a while 'til it went to sleep. I left it some more tea, since it seemed to feel better with it.

[it's time for her to smile back, a little more truly.]

Thank you for that. It was still kind of you to do. And I hope you realize, if it didn't like you at all, you wouldn't have been allowed past the door.

[even running at a lower performance reliability, it would have simply shut the door and remained away from Wayne. in fact, even more so, considering its state.]

Which show did you watch?

[it's relevant to the point she's building up to.]

I kinda worried that maybe it was just tolerating me because it was miserable and anything was better than curling up alone like that, that's all.

[That's all, as if it hadn't been weighing on his mind as he went around to check on others after the fact.]

Sanctuary Moon? There's more title than that but that was the big part of the title.

[her smile grows a bit more.]

That's one from its own world.

[and she hopes with that, Wayne might understand a little more. there's a world of difference between showing someone a nature documentary filmed on Earth and a serial from home - a small piece of itself, offered out as connection.]

[At least if he's reading it right, he can assume that it means the same thing that it means when he himself takes the chance to talk to people about his world, or to play music for them when they have the time to sit and listen.]

Maybe if it doesn't mind, I could watch more. I'd like to see how it shakes out. Should I ask about that or like...wait for an invitation? What would be more polite?

[He doesn't like the idea of walking on eggshells but it feels like it might be necessary until he and Security are better able to meet in the middle.]

Ask, whenever you like. It would appreciate that.

[because waiting for Security to offer another invitation might be waiting an age. and showing a decisive interest in that, in its world, is a very fast way into its better books. she knows that confidently by now.

that Sanctuary Moon is a particular favorite, she keeps to herself. let Wayne discover that on his own time.]

Hopefully you don't need me to sing its praises before you get around to doing so. It's been over the flu for a while now.

A lot's been happening, that's all. I don't want to go to it at a bad time when it's occupied with something important. I'll send a message and set something up.

[Half to appease Helena, and half because he actually does want to sit and watch more of the serial and, as far as he knows, Security has the only copies.]

Give it some faith. That frankness I spoke of means that if it is occupied, it will tell you without mincing words.

[and even if it is, she has a suspicion it'll figure out how to set aside time.]

[Well, at least they've managed to talk it back around to where he feels a little better about the situation at large. Though when he reminds himself why they started discussing Security in the first place, he can't help but smile.]

Maybe it'll be able to tell you when you've gotten really small.

[He's teasing; a little lightness would do them some good, after everything.]

If I start shrinking, I'm going to say you cursed me, and then force you to find a solution.

[do not. she's portable as is. but the outrage is feigned, going to their lighthearted banter.]

It's not my fault half this ship is comprised of giants.

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