@Azereiah@Tickout"Vitals seem good" Stryker noted aloud as he observed the monitors next to Matija and Benny's beds in the med bay "How's brain activity looking? I know there's no way to expect them up and about for quite a while, given the fact that one of em nearly had her head caved in and the other suffered electrical shocks that would've dry-roasted a weaker man, but any prognosis on when they might come back to us?"
A knock on the door interrupted the conversation. Stryker was a few paces closer so he walked across and hit the lock off for the door to slid open and reveal Rento, to which Stryker jumped back slightly.
"Whoa.... sorry wasn't expecting to see you up and about, finally back online huh?"
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[OOC: And now, we interrupt our regularly scheduled programming to bring you a special presentation by myself and Xandrya
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New Relationships & Old Issues
"Hmm, that sounds like a good idea." Amy straightened up and slowly walked inside the armory, finding the work station she'd remembered from the last time she was in there. She couldn't help but be impressed with Grayson's dedication towards her gear, especially since he'd lost some sleep over it. "Is it too much to ask if you could possibly turn my visor into a pair of glasses?" Amy teased, leaning forward on the work station as she tucked a hand under her chin for support.
"Funny ya mention that" Grayson said as he reached across for a screwdriver to resume work "I was thinkin' next time we hit port I'd try and wrangle up some supplies and try to make just that, a nice lightweight version for ya to wear casually. Long term, I'm wondering if the tech is out there that'd allow ya to see details, even in quick flashes. Perhaps reverse-engineering a Lasar Imaging Pulse beacon, or somethin' like that"
Amy stood straight, walking over to where she assumed Grayson would be. "Wow, that'd be great. I--well, I mean, I was only kidding but if this is possible then why not, right?" She stopped for a moment, a thought nagging at her. "Grayson, why are you being so nice to me? I definitely don't want to interrupt your work if you have more pressing matters to attend to, especially with the next mission coming up and all." Amy was sure he'd give her one of two answers, but she wanted to hear it from Grayson himself.
He stopped at her words, parsing his mind for the right reply.
'Bullshitting might work' a voice in his head chimed.
"Well, I, uh, it's my job innit? Keep the crew in top fightin' order"
Yeah, this might work "I prioritized your kit because it took the most damage last outing. Everyone else's is easy to sort out in an hour or less"
"Ah, I see..."
Her expression was hard to read, but he had a sense that she wasn't buying it.
"And, uh, you know, besides all that official shit, I think I mentioned before that I always work at 110% when it's for myself or a friend"
"Well, glad to know I've moved up the chain to friend status now. Promise I won't abuse my privileges," Amy smiled, amused at the fact that Grayson was struggling to get the right words out.
'Laid it on too thick mate' the voice said.
"I suppose" he said carefully, measuring every word "There's a little more to it than that, but if I'm gonna tell you this story, I need ya to do somethin' first. On ya right, about six inches down from the top of the counter, there's a drawer handle. Pull it open and right away you should feel a hard plastic case, grab it will ya?"
Amy followed his instructions, her fingers slowly tracing down to where the handle should be. Once she reached it, she pulled open the drawer and immediately found what Grayson was asking for. "Here you go, mystery man." She took a few steps forward to hand him whatever was in the case.
"Thanks lass" Grayson said. The case held a small, handheld welding tool he needed to finish up his work. Plus, the few seconds it took her to get it and for him to set it up allowed him to steel himself for what he was about to do.
"It's like this" he began "Until SAL and I got stuck together, I was always alone. Don't even remember the how or why of it, or anything before then. I jus' woke up one mornin' and that was the situation. Wasn't long after that the uh.. voices started up. Feels sometimes like a dozen people are livin' in my head. I was in a bad way for a long time, a psychotic little bastard. Eventually though, came a time when I was able to feel normal, get it all under control"
He sighed and laid down the welding tool. His throat was suddenly dry as a desert, as if his body was trying to stop him from speaking. A half-empty bottle of water sat nearby his work station, he downed the rest of it in a single gulp and coughed for a second before looking right at Amy.
"It all started with a woman. We worked together for a time, but more to the point, we were together. She had a contact who was able to get me a prototype drug that calms down my mind, keeps the voices quiet. After awhile, I sort of realized that just being around her was enough to quiet them. She.... brought out the best of me."
He started to feel choked up again, unable to continue for a minute. He reached up and touched at his face, just below his cybernetic eye, tracing the invisible line where the real skin ended and the synthetic began. 'All or nothing' he thought.
"Her name was Julia, and in all my time in this world, I'd never met a woman like her, in beauty or skill... until I met you"
Amy stood still for a moment, guessing that Grayson was studying her closely, anxiously waiting for a reply as her silence filled the room. After what must have seemed like an eternity, she finally spoke.
"I...I'm flattered, honestly. I mean, I wasn't aware that our friendship had sparked such a high level of attraction," Amy went on, leaning back against the counter, "and if I'm being completely honest, I must admit that you seem to have your business in order and you're pretty good at what you do. And I like that, you know? It's something I admire..."
As she arrived at another pause, Amy tapped her fingers on the side of the counter. "But this is all new to me, I mean dating in the workplace. I highly doubt we'll have fraternization issues, but I don't want the others to get the wrong idea. Rumors can get really vicious really fast and I definitely don't want them to think that I'm taking advantage of you just so I can have it easier during our missions here... I hope I'm making sense?"
"Of course, I realize how insane it all is" Grayson said, surprised by her acceptance of it all "I mean we've only known each other for about 2 weeks, and who knows? The way my head's been lately, it could be causing all this... making a part of me think that she's come back.... you do look an awful lot like her........"
"Wait, let me stop you right there. If we're going to be together, I want it to be because you want to be with
me, not because I remind you of Julia. I'm pretty sure that any other woman in my shoes would feel the same way. If what you think you have for me isn't real, then I don't want to go any further. Otherwise, if you have legitimate feelings for me, as an individual, then yeah, we can be together.
"I'm sorry" he said "this must be uncomfortable for you. Me telling you all this, and then immediately doubting if it's real... it feels real, but again, I'm a crazy bastard, so perhaps not the best judge of character. I don't know what to say about the others either..... If you wanted to go through with any of this, maybe it'd be our little secret for awhile?"
She extended out a hand, waiting for Grayson's. "I think that'd be best for now. They don't need to get involved in our personal lives any more than we would get involved in theirs."
"Right" Grayson said, putting the finishing touches on Amy's newly-armored visor. He saw her extended hand and stood to take hold of it, before drawing her into a short and slightly awkward hug.
"So how's this for a first date plan: What say we go find Arex and finally have that chat with him over why the fuck he attacked you, and then a little later, dinner and a drink?" He smiled at her bemused look "I know, I'm a real classical romantic type. We'll be back to the trenches soon enough so might as well take advantage of a quiet night while we can."
"A date it is!" she replied, excited both for dinner
and Arex's questioning.
"Well, yer gonna need this for both of it lass" he replied as he passed over her visor "I did what I could to counter-balance the extra weight of the armor plating, might be a little uncomfortable for a mo' until you get used to the extra bit of heft, but all in all ya shouldn't notice it after a few hours.... shall we?" he extended an arm out to guide Amy out of the room.
