multiversallogs | gifts from the heart, AWWWW.

Entry tags:

gifts from the heart, AWWWW.

Who: Rex Lewis, Ana Lewis, Odessa Wander, open to all
What: Rex has some going-away drinks after quitting his nursing gig and gifts his sister with a weapon.
Where: A low-key bar in Mog Hill and Ana's home in Syriac Well.
When: A few days after St. Kelley's.
Notes: I'll be tossing up two threads for Ana and Odessa, but if your character wants to run into Rex/has business with him and his engineering workshop ~~which may or may not take weapons contracts~~, feel free to start a new thread. It can be anywhere/anytime, I'm flexible and can make up reasons for Rex about.
Warnings: N/A

Rex should never have been taken from the Barge. Certainly, he'd been making progress. He'd learned that mind control was, perhaps, not the best way to get things done (if only because it had ways of backfiring, and then he was left with the consequences), and that he couldn't always take care of a problem through blowing it up. He could even function in society (unlike many of the other inmates), put on a polite face and work a legal job out of the shadows, come home to a partner (who he didn't even feel the urge to dominate. Progress.) and a cat, of all things. Rex Lewis with a cat. How... normal.

But he wasn't ready to return to society. Rex could be... functional, but he hadn't been rehabilitated. For months, he'd been coasting along, but without any supervision, the slide back into old habits was simply inevitable. First, he began drafting up designs for Baedal-compatible weapons. Just as an intellectual exercise. Then, well, he might as well build a model or two. Just to see if he could. And now that he had a few successful (if less sophisticated than he was accustomed to) prototypes of pulse pistols under his belt, it would only be a matter of time before he decided to take his little operation to the next level.

Now, if only he could figure out how to begin production of his nanomites again. The limitations of this world were nothing short of infuriating.

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It's a few hours after his last and final shift at the Glory Shada, and Rex is already a few drinks into his celebration. Not that he didn't enjoy his job-- he'll miss the educational opportunities it afforded him. The uniqueness of the patients never ceased to fascinate him, and the specifications of women's health were... somewhat novel to him. He'd largely worked with men in various capacities, tending to soldiers on the battlefield or modifying soldiers in MARS's headquarters, so he welcomed the change as a learning experience.

But what he won't miss are the weird hours, the long shifts keeping him on his feet to the point of aching, the sex rituals...

Besides, working for himself and taking contracts for medical and surveillance equipment (and the odd weapon here and there) pays better.

The possibilities seem endless now that he's freed himself from the time-sink of his nursing job. So Rex, normally reserved and a touch antisocial, is celebrating a little harder than usual. Probably not a good thing when Odessa's about.

The crowd here is on the smaller side, but it's somebody's birthday, and cheers and laughter flood the bar. Rex chose this place because it's a little out of the way, less likely to fill up as much as The Apache at this hour. Besides, he was already there a few days ago to make an appearance at that St. Kelley's party, even though parties aren't exactly his scene. A little change can't hurt. After all, it's pretty much the theme of tonight.

While Odessa is definitely going to miss the chances to chat (briefly) with Rex at work, she can't at all fault him for making the leap to the private sector. And there's the allure of being one's own boss that can't be denied.

She's a little behind on the celebration front, if only because she's curious to see how Rex does with a head start. It's for science, okay? He'd approve if she explained her nefarious plan, obviously. She's swirling a skinny straw through some sort of bright green mixture that tastes dangerously like candy.

"You realise if you suddenly discover you're making boat loads of money, you have to call me and let me come work for you, right?"

"Careful, I just may take you up on that," Rex replies with a laugh as he dabs at the condensation on his glass. It's a way to keep his hands busy as he pauses between drinks. He's still not too fond of the taste of vodka, so he's taking this drink slow. He should branch out, try something that isn't common to Earth, but... As much as Rex enjoys scientific endeavors, he's not really up for imbibing unfamiliar liquids. Who knows what he'd end up doing or saying.

"But I don't think my entrepreneurial endeavors will pay as well as the hospital." His own pay may've been modest-- he'd deliberately taken work that was 'beneath' him, as far as he's concerned, for the networking and education-- but Odessa's a surgeon. He figures it's safe to assume she's quite comfortable with her salary. He muses for a moment, then takes a drink. "You know, I still don't have a name for the business. I need something striking, like... I don't know, 'Ouroboros Ventures'."

No, that's a very bad name. But if it's related to snakes in some capacity, chances are, Rex will think it's gold.

He may have something of a one-track mind.

Edited 2012-02-15 19:32 (UTC)

"I think the word ouroboros always sounds impressive." Not that she's the authority on excellent names for organisations, considering she comes from such gems as The Company and The Institute. The Vanguard was perhaps not particularly inspired, either. Not that she was actually responsible for the naming of any of those.

She giggles, pressing the back of her knuckles to the underside of her nose as if to stave off a snort. "Could always go with Cobra Capital if you wanted to be alliterative. Viper Ventures would be perhaps a touch too evocative of villainous intent." Finger and thumb held up a half inch apart to indicate just a smidgen.

"It does, doesn't it?" It's so good to have somebody who thinks like him. He lifts his glass and takes a sip through the little stirrer that's now doubling as a straw. "It calls to mind something... timeless." He rolls his eyes up towards the ceiling, as if drawing inspiration from above. "Legendary."

But that's not nearly as great as an alliterative snake name. He brings his gaze down, meeting Odessa's eyes, and his mouth quirks into a brief, crooked grin. "Cobra Capital? I like that." He raises his glass and tips it to her in kudos. Vodka threatens to spill out, but he straightens it out before it does. "It's catchy." Naturally, the guy who used to call himself Cobra Commander would think that. "A shame that a lot of people would be put off by snakes. I suppose I'll have to dress it up a little. Ophis Industries."

Rex takes a drink and shrugs. "Anyway. That's assuming the contracts will keep coming in at their current pace. I'd hate to get ahead of myself."

Lies, he always likes to get ahead of himself.

Odessa traces circles and curly-cues absently on the table's surface while Rex talks. He draws a smile from her when he invokes the word legendary. She matches his gaze, a glint of something between mirth and mischief there. And when he nearly spills his vodka, she exhales a breath of laughter.

"Regardless," she assures, "I think you're on to something. And there's nothing wrong with looking to the future, eh?" The green concoction is sipped through her straw and seems to draw a wider smile. "And I'd say you've got a bright one ahead of you. This place, Baedal? It's not so bad, really. Fresh beginnings and all. I think it's a blessing."

Fresh beginnings. Rex lets out a soft chuckle. How many of those has he had now? Far too many, although good things have certainly come from them. His work at MARS, for starters. His experiments on the Barge, studying the special abilities of others. Meeting Iago, Wichita... Hm. Baedal could certainly bring as many opportunities as his other "fresh beginnings."

However, he's more interested in Odessa's choice of words right now. Rex leans closer, like they're about to talk conspiracies, and grins teasingly. "Only if your old life's worth leaving behind. Was yours?"

Odessa's fucked up her fair share of fresh beginnings, though she'd argue until she's blue in the face that she never stood a chance and there was nothing fresh about it. So when he asks her, was her old life worth leaving behind, she doesn't quite lose her smile, but it instead gains a bittersweet sort of quality. "Oh yes. Definitely. I can't think of anything I would go back for."

Not even the people she's claimed to love.

Rex tilts his head and hums quietly, considering his own answer. Was there anything worth going home for? His lab, his projects, his power. His cobras.

But that's about it. Ana's the only person from home who matters, and she's here now, so...

"I can think of a few things. But things are so easily replaceable," he remarks. People, too, for the most part, but he decides to keep that comment to himself. "As long as I have a chance to do science, I'm happy."

She'd agree with that comment if he decided to voice it. They're a similar kind of terrible in that respect. "See, that's how I see things, too. Back home, I wasn't always left to my research, either. This place? It has some distinct advantages."

And besides all that, Odessa suspects she isn't nearly as important to the people who are important to her. Cutting ties and letting go may be the best thing for her. "I'm much happier here than I ever was in New York." She grins and cuts that space between them just a little more. "Company's better, too."

Shrieky leaned forward, invading the other man's personal space with the lazy obliviousness of the very drunk. As far as he was concerned, this was one of the single most successful conversations he'd ever had with a human, and he was not going to let a little thing like maintaining a polite distance during conversation get in the way of that.

"There was a nest of eels in the moat for a while, which, I know aren't the same as snakes, because they looked quite different, but they were still limbless and somewhat similar in shape to snakes?"

He didn't really expect Rex to care about eels, we was just sort of trying to prompt the human to talk more about snakes. Shrieky had never known they were so wonderful.

Rex shifted back subtly, because it wasn't like he knew Shrieky well enough to allow him to invade his space. Give it time, merman. He took a big gulp of his vodka-and-whatever, the drink going down a lot easier now that he was drunk.

"What kind of eels? I'm partial to... Ophi... ichthy... de... uh. Snake eels." Rex wasn't a huge fish person, but at least eels were at least, like, the snakes of the sea. In fact, he should say that. "Eels are like the snakes of the sea. I mean." He waved a hand. "Aside from actual sea snakes. Like the... the... sea krait." Wait. He leaned forward-- now it was Rex's turn to stop caring about personal space. His eyes were wide with sudden interest. "Have you ever seen a sea krait?"

Tell him you have, Shrieky.

Shrieky had absolutely no clue as to what a sea krait was, but telling this to Rex might just end the conversation, and that would be completely unacceptable. Instead, he answered with all the guile of a lonesome mermaid, "Well, I did live in salt water, so it's entirely possible I have seen one! However I mostly just made up names for the things in the moat, so in order to be sure, you should tell me about sea kraits?"

Shrieky tries to look as if he is being truthful, as well as being quietly intrigued by the concept of underwater snakes!

"They're just-- they're so--" He put a hand on Shrieky's shoulder for emphasis. "So beautiful. They have stripes, you know. It's like, the stripes? They camouflage the krait when it's on land, then just." He removed his hand from the merman and waved it about as if his hand was, in fact, the snake. "It confuses the fish. It's an optical illusion." Rex leaned back and sighed happily, looking quite content for a moment, just kind of staring at nothing. He was clearly thinking about snakes. "They're really venomous." Smiling and nodding as if to confirm, yes, Shrieky, what I say is truth. "They're in the same family as the cobra, too," he added. Just in case Shrieky was wondering.

Edited 2012-02-16 04:45 (UTC)

Shrieky was touched by Rex's passion, and he listened to the description intently. "There were some elongated striped creatures in the moat with me, none of them ever bit me, so I don't know if they were poisonous or not, but they were most beautiful!"

They were also fish. He is literally one hundred percent certain that they were fish, and not terrifying poisonous snakes. But for all Rex knows they could have been!

"Have you ever touched one?" He asked, earnestly. Whether the question was about cobras or sea kraits wasn't really important.

Luckily, Rex was drunk enough not to point out that many fish were elongated and stripey, so he just raised his brows, clearly impressed, and smiled the smile of a lonely man who just found a kindred spirit. "Really?" Siiiigh. "It must have been amazing, seeing them swim. Up close. In person." Rex paused. "Although if you see them every day, I suppose it might lose the appeal."

Like snakes could ever not be a beautiful sight. Rex tilted his head for a moment, clearly trying to figure out if the question was for kraits or cobras, then he decided that it didn't matter, because bragging was more important.

"A few times, in very controlled conditions. I had a pair of cobras-- king cobras, actually-- back home, but." He pulled a frown and glared to the side, clearly picturing something or somebody he hated. "Then my home was under siege and I couldn't take them with me."

And then he ordered his men to blow up the base, so really, the death of his cobras was probably his fault--

No.

No, it was never his fault. It was the Joes' fault for breaking in and storming the place.

"I have another snake now, though. An Eastern indigo. Do you want to see her?" Like a proud, somewhat disturbed parent, Rex keeps pictures of her on his CID.

Edited 2012-02-16 05:15 (UTC)

"Oh no they never lost their appeal!" Shrieky replied emphatically, waving his hands to make it clear that that was never a thing that could happen, "They were sort of like having a very great number of friends, none of whom could speak, and some of whom I was required to consume for my survival, but seeing them every day was really the best thing about them being there at all."

Apparently this is just a convention for incredibly lonely people who over identify with creatures incapable of feeling love.

That was probably Shrieky's favorite thing about Rex. He might have been human (because really, so many people tended to be that, despite how Shrieky resented it), but he certainly didn't appear that interested in humans. He didn't even seem that interested in Shrieky, and Shrieky wasn't human, so clearly, he had even less time for humans themselves.

No, Rex appeared to be all snakes, all the time, and Shrieky liked that in a person. At Rex's offer to display his east indigo, Shrieky nodded earnestly, "I would be absolutely honored to see her!"

Edited 2012-02-16 05:31 (UTC)

Rex grinned and nodded enthusiastically. Yes, he could understand! Right down to having to consume one's friends!

Only, in Rex's case, it was less "consume" and more "inject with nanomites." Still, it was similar enough that Rex could relate to some degree. Most people were simply disposable, just like food. And, given that his favorite snake was the king cobra, which lived off of other snakes, he certainly had no qualms with ophiophagy, if that was indeed what Shrieky had practiced from time to time. With the banded kraits. That lived in the moat.

He dug into his pocket and pulled out his CiD, smile still playing at his lips. Shrieky's interest in his snake had just earned him a few more points in Rex's esteem.

"This is Tiamat," he said, leaning in to show Shrieky a series of totally exciting pictures of a large black snake just chilling out in its habitat. "I rescued her from my-- from a friend's bedroom. She didn't get there on purpose, you know? But everyone acted like she was a monster."

Truly, with Shrieky's eating of sea life, and Rex's brainwashing of his colleagues, these men were kindred spirits!

Shrieky squishes in towards Rex, to get the best possible view of his baby girl, and is suitably impressed by what he sees, "She's so glossy! Her scales are like ravens feathers..."

Okay, so they're actually more like snake's scales, but Shrieky's more of a bird guy, if he's completely honest. Still, he's not going to linger on birds when there's a snake lover right here, "Humans act like everything is a monster, it's really idiotic, because one day an actual monster turns up, and no one will take them seriously." This is a major concern shush, "Anyway, I think she's lovely. Is she here in Baedal with you?"

"They feel soft, too. Snakes. They're very soothing to touch." Rex pocketed his CiD now that picture time was complete, snorting with contempt at Shrieky's assessment of humans. How totally right he was. "They do. They're reactive, easily threatened by anything new or different. It doesn't matter who you are or what you are, they'll see you as a monster if it suits their purposes."

After a gloomy pause, Rex considered that question and smiled.

"She is now. That holiday, that... St. Kelley's day? She was brought back to me."

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gifts from the heart, AWWWW.

Mog Hill; Odessa

oh god sorry this took me so long

It's fine! I'm certainly not one to talk on the slowness front

Good. Now marvel at my abuse of italics!

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LO, AN INTERLOPER!

BEGONE

NEVER!

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