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[reargunner]

ᴛᴇxᴛ | ᴀᴜᴅɪᴏ | ᴠɪᴅᴇᴏ | ᴀᴄᴛɪᴏɴ



Leave a message if you want. I'll get back to you when I pick my comm up.

Or I won't.

Comments

[inthebiblicalsense]

Well, you're his new best friend, of course he does.

[He stretches in his chair, pushing it away from his desk with a yawn before leaning back in it, comfy enough as he uses his foot to rock it forward and back gently.]

Are you going to leave him lonely or come over?

[He pans the camera around, showing that Alex is currently, despite his small size, sprawled out in the middle of the bed and taking up most of it, his little feet twitching every once in a while as he sleeps and dreams.]

[reargunner]

Mm, looks like he's pining away.

[He sees you, Abel. Cain shakes his head and moves, the picture tilting wildly as he gets up off his bed.]

Ya skoro pridu. [His voice strains a little as he stretches.] Five minutes. Make some tea, okay?

[inthebiblicalsense]

I dont- [Abel knows he's seen his cabin, and there definitely isn't anything in it for making tea. And he's sure Cain thought he was high maintenance.]

I'll leave it unlocked then, I have to go up to the dining hall for that so it'll be more than five minutes.

[He does get up though, finding his boots because he's not going to just walk there barefoot and starts to head out.] see you in a few.

[reargunner]

[The little chuckle he lets out probably makes it more than obvious that he knew exactly what he was asking.]

Mhm. Try not to bring it back looking like dishwater, okay, solnyshko?

[He cuts the call there, gives it a couple of minutes, then pulls his boots on and heads out to the lift. Only being on the next floor has its conveniences and it only takes a few minutes from there for him to get to Abel's door.

Cain checks up and down the hallway before slipping quickly inside, shutting the door behind himself and immediately locating the cat.]

[inthebiblicalsense]

[Giving Cain a 'look' he hangs up to go get what he asked for, huffing as he goes to the lift.

When he comes back down, it's with two hot cups of tea, still steeping. And, with his hands full he uses his elbow to open the door, stepping in with it sliding closed behind him.]

Your tea, Alexei.

[reargunner]

[Cain is, perhaps predictably, on the floor with Alex when Abel gets back. He stands up immediately however and takes one of the steaming cups, the brush of their fingers lingering for a moment, and he smiles slightly.]

Thanks, Ethan.

[It's nice, again. Just being companionable.]

So, Alex was missing me?

[inthebiblicalsense]

Well obviously, usually he just lifts his head and goes back to sleep when someone comes in.

[or greets them long enough to go back to sleep. He sets in his chair and sets his own cup down on the desk, waiting for it to cool a little before taking a sip.]

So, how was your day?

[reargunner]

Mmn. Uneventful.

[Cain puts himself back on the floor and stretches his legs out, wiggling his fingers across the floor in front of Alex. He sets the cup down beside him, far enough away to not knock it over.]

Went to the library this morning, after the gym. Been in my cabin mostly, otherwise.

[inthebiblicalsense]

We should work out together sometime, I can show you my set, maybe get some advice? Angeal is giving me lessons here and there, but I'd like to hear your opinion too.

[He's been rather diligent in his routine and was happy with his progress. He'd used the facilities back on board the Sleipnir and trained because it was required of him, but here it was more for himself and the routine.]

Your routine and mine seem to be pretty similar. Though I've been swapping my run with laps in the pool in the morning. Change it up a little. Find anything good in the library?

[reargunner]

Don't think you want my advice. [He replies with a little snort, snagging Alex around his middle with one hand when he ventures close and setting the cat on his lap.] Don't really have a routine with it, just keep going 'til I can't.

[It's a way to turn his brai off... and it works, sometimes.]

And yeah, I guess. Been a while since I could sit down and read something that wasn't an engineering manual.

[inthebiblicalsense]

Well maybe keep going until you almost can't instead. I don't want you to hurt yourself... and I'm not above unorthodox advice. Some things you can't learn from a text book. Besides, it would be kind of fun, we didn't really get to work out together aside from training.

I bet I could spot you now without having to lower your set weight.

[Which is something he's quite proud of. He'd steadily gotten stronger the longer they'd been together, not quite so skinny, and while he's sure he couldn't lift what Cain could, spotting didn't require him to handle all of it.]

I've been trying to get back into novels...mostly been trying to catch up on history. It's a little frustrating when most people I know are either twentieth, twenty-first century. I learned about it at some point but the refresher has maybe helped? Or I at least get some of the references now.

[reargunner]

Mm. Maybe.

[He'll ignore the unsolicited advice, knowing that pointing out he didn't ask for it would just cause a argument, and he picks up his cup to take a small sip of the tea. It's fine enough black - he's not very fussy about his hot drinks, or drinks in general.]

Haven't looked into that kind of thing. Maybe if it starts to be a problem. [Though he can't see how it would, it does sound like Ethan to do that sort of research.] Can't see that it will.

[inthebiblicalsense]

I think it depends on who you're talking with, and maybe a little bit of a 'me' problem.

[because he knows that there are a lot if things he does that most people wouldn't for the reasons he does them. He rather likes being in the know.

But, he could probably draw out the small talk forever, but there actually was a reason he wanted to check in on him other than the company.]

Did you get to talk with your temp? I'm unfamiliar with him, but I hope that went well for you both.

[reargunner]

[He chuffs a small laugh out, sipping the tea again, then his expression shifts and cools, his eyes darkening, and he presses his lips together for a moment.]

Not talking about that.

[Another sip. Cain leans his head back and sighs a breath out.]

You learn anything interesting about the twenty-first century?

[inthebiblicalsense]

[Well, that was a hard no. He'd gotten one from Fitz before and he'd stormed out of the room when he'd attempted to push a little.

Abel sighs, grabbing his own cup to blow on it before taking a sip.]

Is that 'not at all' or this assignment specifically? I was kind of hoping to get your perspective, maybe some advice, but I'm not going to fight you for it.

[Which he hopes is a gentle enough ask that the clarification won't piss him off. He's new enough that this is all very raw, and that doesn't help in wanting to talk about things.]

Most of the people I've met have been from the first quarter of it. A lot of tech innovation happening there. Complete fascination on AI, which...I think we didn't go all in for, at least the way that I've heard Hilbert mention it.

[reargunner]

At all.

[He can't give any advice.

Can't. Won't. He just doesn't want to discuss it with Abel and that is a hard line he's drawing. Of course, he can't stop Abel going and talking to the warden in question to see how things went with them, but he doesn't think he will.

He'll take up the other topic readily enough, wanting to move on from Abel prying about his situation regardless of how gently it was done.]

AI, huh. Read about that a bit back home, how they were trying to develop it on Earth way back. Seemed like a stupid idea to me.

[inthebiblicalsense]

Well if you ever change your mind, I'm not going anywhere.

[And he won't be, probably for a very long time seeing as Fitz seems to want to be a record setter. But, at the very least, he let's it go. It's a small change, not that he forgets that it's sitting there between them, but he can let it sit. At least for a little while before gently prodding again. Maybe next assignment, depending on who it is.]

I'm not sure about stupid, I think it's more to make complex programs more palatable for your average person. I can understand and build programs that can analyze data, sort it the way I want, but this is like creating a person who does that for you just because you ask it to. You're cutting the expert out, which... I suppose isn't a bad thing, but relying on a program to interpret its own data leaves room for weak points, and I'm unsure whether I like it as a concept or not.

[reargunner]

... mhm.

[It's not just not wanting to talk about it. It's specifically not wanting to talk to Abel about it, knowing exactly how he'd react if he told him how things had gone.

Cain has no interest in getting to know any warden assigned to him or letting them get near to him and had made himself abundantly clear to Jesus, who will keep out of his way entirely if he's smart.

He listens to what Abel says but the words don't really sink in. Though he can follow it well enough he seems distracted, a frown drawing a line between his eyebrows as he rubs his fingers gently through Alex's fur.]

Too much room for error in it for my liking. Rather have it all under my own control than give everything over to a machine.

[inthebiblicalsense]

[Abel can at least notice that Cain is starting to shut down. Perhsps something familiar and personal might pull him back.]

Speaking of, I was having that same problem when I first arrived. I would go the enclosure, ask for the Reliant and it wasn't quite right. Just, little things but enough to bother me.

Took me about a month to get a model done that I was happy with, been fiddling with it since, just...putting some finishing touches on it outside of what I built for the enclosure.

You want to see?

[reargunner]

[He does remember Abel mentioning this and how eager he'd been to see it, but that same kind of feeling of excitement doesn't spark up again when it's brought up this time.

Cain mulls it over for a few moments as he watches his fingertips move through the cat's dark fur.

He wishes Abel hadn't asked about the warden. It prods at his nerves, an anxiety that he doesn't want to be feeling, closing around him like an invisible barrier.]

No, not right now. Another time though, yeah? Had a long day.

[inthebiblicalsense]

Sure.

[Options of what he knows Cain might be interested in and what might calm him down are limited. But he isn't going to just break him and leave him with the pieces all over the floor.

He quietly stands, pulling his iPod out of his pocket to find a spot on the floor next to Cain, popping one earbud in to offer the other to Cain.]

I'm terrible at this, but we can just, do nothing for a bit?

Fitz says I need to learn how to relax, so...it's good practice.

[reargunner]

[Cain sighs.]

Yeah. Sure.

[He takes the earbud and fits it into his ear, leaning his head back a bit and closing his eyes.]

Already been doing nothing most of today. Don't mind having company to do some more of it.

[inthebiblicalsense]

[Abel isn't going to comment on how that is a little worrying to him, but he's attempting to not crowd. Cain won't talk about it, but he's not leaving either. He can attempt to work with this.

To keep the cord from pulling if either of them moved, he puts his arm around his shoulder, pulling him in close and leans his head back against the bed frame behind them, scrolling for a minute before putting on something soft.

He'd felt like shit when he'd first arrived and Simon & Garfinkel has been incredibly soothing.]

Here, if you want to change it, I won't stop you.

[Which, in offering the little device over as a distraction for names of artists he's probably never heard of, is a rather big show of trust, even if Cain might not think anything of it.]

[reargunner]

[Cain doesn't stiffen at all against having Abel's arm put around him like that, only sinks down a bit and leans a little into the other man's shoulder.

The music starts to play and he takes the device when it's offered but doesn't even look at it, only fiddles with the shape of it between his fingers.]

This is fine.

[Not really to his tastes but not so much that he objects to listening to it.]

Just wake me up if I fall asleep or something.

[inthebiblicalsense]

[If he does fall asleep he probably needs it. There isn't any reason why he would need to wake him up. Maybe if it got closer to dinner.

The hand at his shoulder gently traces circles through his shirt, slow and methodical as he closes his eyes.

He wonders if Cain had gotten here first if he would have offered the same. Hard to tell. His other hand finds Alex in Cain's lap, rubbing his chin as he tries to focus on something else.]