Catchall log for mid-Merriment, OTA!

[subcircuits]

Who: Devero and YOU
Where: All over the train
When: Merriment 17 through 21
What: Devero potters around the train, catching up on things and pretending he's not still really, really worn out from the mission.
Warnings: Recreational drug use in the luggage car prompt.


In the days following the platform, Devero is relieved to find that he's recovered enough energy to be able to stay awake for most of a day, and even to concentrate on projects again! The lassitude is hanging on to him longer than most, so he's still not quite is robust self, but he's present and working again. Between Merriment 17 and 21, he can be encountered all over the train.

Where does your character find him?


In the lab car?
Wait, since when is Devero glowing purple and semi-transparent? Come into the lab car on the right day at the right time and you'll find this specter moving about. Perhaps he's fiddling with a door latch, or you find him in one of the labs, picking things up and putting them back down again. There is absolutely neutral, lifeless expression on his face if you happen to catch sight of it, and-- Wait, is that some kind of glowing core in the middle of the shape?


In the training car?
Devero knows how to shoot a gun. Really. He swears. But if you happen in on him practicing his marksmanship with a sleek, futuristic rifle in his hands, it sure doesn't seem like it. He's visibly frustrated as he misses another shot, dropping the gun down from his shoulder and turning his back on his target. (Claudette tilts her head and chirrups. Does this mean the game is over?)

"Rust and ruin," he swears, shoving his wrap-around tactical Interface up on his forehead. "I'm never going to get the hang of this thing. I'm sorry, Entrapta."


In the library car:
Several weeks ago, Devero had snatched down the slip of paper that he'd tacked up in the standard car, the one advertising lessons in GSL-- Global Sign Language. The day of the platform, he'd tacked it back up again. Find him at the advertised time in the library, staring into the screen of his usual Interface. While he waits to see if anyone's going to show up, he's talking to himself.

You know, with his hands. How else? This is meant to be a sign-language lesson, after all!


In the music car:
As crowded as the train's been getting, the second floor of the music carriage is still a good place to slip away to if you're looking for (relative) privacy. Today, however, Devero's beaten you to it. If you don't notice right away that he's in here, though, that's understandable-- there's no music, no sound save for the whisper of his feet on the stage, the rustle of his clothes, and the occasional audible breath.

Despite the apparent silence, Devero is dancing. He's practicing alone an energetic routine for two, but there's no mistaking the precision and grace in his movements as he performs them, even without the partner.

Do you stay and watch, or leave him to dance in solitude?


In the luggage car?
If you've been on the train for longer than a few weeks, you may already be acquainted with this particular odor: it's savory, herby, as if someone's over-toasted spices in a pan prior to cooking with them. Were it a strong odor, it'd probably be sour and unpleasant; as mild as it is, it's mostly unobjectionable.

The source of it can be easily traced to the obviously hand-rolled cigarette smoldering between Devero's lips. That's right, it's future-weed hours here in the luggage car, folks. And if you look at him twice, you'll find him holding his joint out in your direction. "Want a hit?" he asks amiably.


Somewhere else?
Devero can feasibly be found all over the train: prepping vegetables or washing dishes in the kitchen; soaking or doing yoga in the spa car; working out in either of the gyms; sleeping through a movie in the cinema; or even just traveling up and down the train. Yeah, they have transgates now, but walking (or hoverskating) the length of the train is an easy way to keep his condition up while he's still recovering from the last mission. He's not nearly as exhausted as he was before, which means it's working. Really. He swears! He didn't fall asleep here, he was just resting his eyes!

Feel free to find him wherever you want, if one of the prompts above doesn't tickle your fancy.

Comments

[subcircuits]

Devero looks up sharply, so focused on his practicing that he hadn't realized he wasn't alone. Even worse, it's Soldat, who's way, way more experienced with firearms than Devero is.

He jerks his Interface back down, mostly so it can obscure the embarrassed color rising in his cheek. "It's not," he admits with a grimace. "I was trained with a pistol, I've never used anything other than that."

[worthallthis]

They duck their head a little at the discomfort, looking pretty clearly apologetic. "Sorry. I. Want any help? It's fine if you don't. I've just done a lot of training." Not usually with a rifle, honestly, the Widows never needed to know sniping, but they can adapt.

[subcircuits]

If anything, Soldat's offer visibly relaxes him. "Please?" he says plaintively, offering out the gun. The weapon he's offering clearly used to be one of the energy rifles available through the train's store, but it has since been modified.

[worthallthis]

Soldat has tested the energy rifles before, so they're familiar with the recoil-- or lack thereof-- and the heft-- or, again, lack thereof-- of them. This one is slightly heavier, when they take it and lever it against their shoulder.

"You were not holding the rifle close enough to your body to line up the sight accurately," they begin, shifting to angle themselves so Devero can see the proper spot on the shoulder to brace. "And I think you are expecting more recoil then an energy rifle has. It makes you aim too low."

[subcircuits]

Devero watches with a sharp eye as Soldat lines up the rifle, and there is no mistaking where his stance had been-- way off. "Copy that," he murmurs. "My Brockman does have a bit of a kick." He glances up at Soldat. "You mind if I take a couple snaps of you, for reference?"

[worthallthis]

They freeze for a beat, shut their eyes against the old conditioning against being seen and recorded, ride it out, and finally say, "If you don't share them around."

[subcircuits]

He sees that. "Absolutely not," he says, "no worries. I'll tag them auto-delete, too, so they clear automatically after a while." He makes a couple of gestures with his hand, his little robot hovers closer, and, "Done." Just like that.

"Gimme a second to pull these from Beepers' onboard," he says, already opening the app in his vision and accessing the drone's camera storage. He transfers the images from Beepers to his Interface, deletes them from the drones, takes a couple of seconds more to tag the lot for auto-delete, and then closes the pertinent programs again with a big wiping gesture.

"And done," he says. "Thank you, Soldat."

[worthallthis]

"You're welcome." They offer the rifle back to him, dropping it out of ready position. They much prefer their own rifle, even if the lack of ammunition and the range is nice. The calculations for firing at distance are less familiar, though, and the sniper rifle is just more comfortable all around.

Still, this one is different from the standard. "Where did you get the modifications done?"

[subcircuits]

"...Entrapta made it for me," he says softly, double-checking that the safety is on before he actually cradles the thing in his arms. "She took one of the train's energy rifles and a manadrive and combined them. It shoots magic. Heals."

And he obviously has a lot of feelings about it, given the solemn expression on his face as he looks down at the gun.

[worthallthis]

"Huh. That's." They consider the rifle a moment. "That's useful."

Entrapta really was always trying to help people, the way she knew how. And Devero does seem to have a lot of feelings about it. "Were you close? You and Entrapta."

[subcircuits]

"I can't wait to try it out on the next mission," he says. He'd left it behind on the last one, despite Entrapta having already given it too him, because he didn't feel confident enough to use it. He deeply regrets that, now.

He glances up at Soldat, his eyes gone quite shiny in response to their question. "...Yeah," he says. "Yeah. She's-- was-- probably my closest friend here after Koumyou Sanzo."