♻ 010 | audio/spam

[tucky]

[warden filter]

So, uh-- when I first got here, Dr. Cambridge put an implant in me, so I wouldn't have to deal with periods and stuff. But it was a birth control thing too, so that means if I'm having sex I don't have to bother with condoms or nothing, right?

[She sounds hopeful. Please give her the green light to be irresponsible, guys!

(Just kidding, please don't.) ]

[spam]

[Little-known fact: the deck kind of freaks Tiffany out. Out there, space is right in your face, and there's so much of it-- it's impossibly big, and it makes her feel impossibly small. She's never even seen the ocean from the deck of a ship; seeing the entire universe from one is infinitely more overwhelming.

But it's also nice and peaceful, in a way-- not to mention beautiful. So sometimes when she's feeling particularly brave (and right now, post-port, she definitely is) she goes out onto the main deck. She almost always stays away from the railing, opting instead to stick as close to the side of the ship as possible. Sometimes she walks, but it makes her feel a little dizzy. Mostly, she can be found sitting down-- not on a bench, but on the floor, her back pressed against the solid, reassuring Barge wall.

It doesn't matter where she sits. Either way, she can still see the stars.]

[filtered to Mason; dated to after her conversation with Barbara]

This is the kind of message you aren't supposed to respond to and in fact you should delete it off your phone once you have read it and pretend you realized it all on your own. I know guys don't pick up signals sometimes but if I'm real honest girls are the same way even though we're supposed to be better at this stuff so don't feel bad. So in case you didn't already know the signal coming from me is this, I like how things are and will not be unhappy at all if nothing changes but if you asked me out on a date someday I would say yes.

[Look at her, using spellcheck! It doesn't help with punctuation issues, but still.]

Comments

[tucky]

Why the hell would I want to?

[americasdirtiest]

[He snorts and rolls his eyes, dismissing the topic.]

What's got you so scared of the railing?

[tucky]

I'm not scared.

[Yes she is.]

It's just that... it's so big out there. There's so much of it and it's all around us.

[americasdirtiest]

...Yeah?

[Not getting it. At all.]

You know that's true back on Earth too, right? It's fucking space. That's what it's there for.

[tucky]

[She shoot him an annoyed look.]

It's different when you're up in it.

[But she pulls away from the wall a little, sliding herself-- still in a seated position-- a foot or two closer to the railing.]

... You really think Mason's gonna leave here soon?

[americasdirtiest]

[He shrugs, conceding the first point.]

Guess that's true. You can't see shit from up here in Chicago.

[The question... that takes him a moment to answer. He looks away again, flicking ash.]

I dunno. Maybe. Like anyone knows how the Admiral actually fucking decides on anything.

[tucky]

I mean, he could graduate and then stay. He'd be a good warden, I think. He's nice and sweet.

[Another experimental scoot, just a few inches this time.]

You from Chicago?

[americasdirtiest]

South Side, born and raised.

[He turns back to her, raising a brow slightly -- why would she want to know?] You're not. [Not with that accent.]

[tucky]

Nope. Never been.

[She doesn't even know what the "South Side" is, other than-- she assumes-- the south of the city.]

[americasdirtiest]

The fuck is it to you, then?

[Despite the profanity, it's not particularly belligerent. No more than his usual air of ground-in misanthropy, anyway.

Then he scoffs quietly and smirks as it clicks.]

Trying not to ask too many questions about your bangbuddy, huh.

[tucky]

What? No, I was curious, that's all. Wondering where you was from.

[He reminded her a little bit of people from home, which was why-- even though she didn't like him much-- him calling her a redneck in Chris's post had bugged her less than it would have if it had come from someone else.]

[americasdirtiest]

[Yeah, he doesn't get that. He doesn't have a lot of innate curiosity.]

Well... Chicago. Me 'n' Ian both.

[tucky]

Cool.

[She slides close enough to the railing that she could reach out and touch it if she wanted to; she almost does, but at the last second she gets spooked and changes her mind, skittering back to the comfort of the big, solid Barge wall.]

-- And I ain't ashamed to be asking a question about Mason.

[americasdirtiest]

Jesus Christ.

[Seriously, Tucky? He rolls his eyes and extends his hand well over the side of the railing to flick the butt of his cigarette away.]

Okay, Deliverance. Whatever you say.

[tucky]

What? What's your problem?

[americasdirtiest]

Nothing. I think you should get the fuck over it and get up, but if you don't want to, that's your fucking problem.

[tucky]

Anybody would think it's freaky. I bet I'm not the only one.

[americasdirtiest]

Not after... however the fuck long you've been around for.

[tucky]

It's been like three months. Less than that.

And I don't even come out here much, anyway.

[americasdirtiest]

Whatever. Like I said -- your problem, not mine.

[But he's enough of an asshole that he's going to shift to sitting on the railing itself.]

[tucky]

[She winces, cringing back against the wall.]

Are you serious?

[americasdirtiest]

[He lights up another cigarette, because really, why not chain-smoke.]

You gonna try to push me off?

[tucky]

No. I don't hate you that much.

[She curls her fingers, feeling the deck under her.]

I don't even get how we can breathe out here.

[americasdirtiest]

[He sighs, slightly exasperated.]

Look, if you start getting caught up on how the fuck this place works, you're going to lose your damn mind. And you don't have that much to lose.

[tucky]

Fuck off.

[Oh, well. She figures the answer is just "magic", the way it is for most things.]

Hey, how'd you know about me and Mason, anyway?