♖ 6

[vengefulagent]

[There comes a time in every adult's life when something comes along and renders them completely and utterly child-like. Such things don't really happen for Wash, however; he's far too rule-minded and serious about most things to let himself go like that. And besides, it's not...really easy for him to anyway. He tries, and those who have known him for years in Project Freelancer know he's, well, a bit awkward and dorky when it comes to some things. (And gullible, which certain Freelancers know all too damn well.)

But this new thing? Ohhh, oh, it makes him happy and he's having no trouble showing it.

He stands at the top of the coliseum, a bulky-looking thing attached to the back of his armor. It's a shame he has a helmet on. He has this nervous but wide grin on his face. Ever since he saw Tex using one of these, he's wanted to try it--and now he can. They've had their initial training courses, sure, but a time will come when they will have to use these things in the field, so...why not practice...? He knows he shouldn't bring equipment like this to the Plane, but really, he's brought various guns, ammo, and other training equipment here and hasn't gotten in trouble for it yet. Borrowing the jetpack for a while will be just fine. (And he reminds himself that yes, it's okay. It will be fine and in no way will this get him in trouble with the higher-ups. Seriously.)

Peering over the edge, the ground seems like it's farther away than it was before, but that's okay! The jetpack will break his fall! (Of course, it helps that he didn't really hear too much about the incident with Georgia when he was first testing the equipment out. He wouldn't be anywhere near as excited to use it.)]

Watch out below!

[His warning given, his eyes flicker over to the jetpack indicator in his helmet visor, reaffirming for himself that it is indeed in full working order and he's not about to jump and break his legs doing this. At least this is nothing like the skydiving training they did, he reminds himself. Nervously, he inches closer to the edge and takes a deep breath...]


[ooc: the Freelancers have moved up in their canon to the end of S9! ~Stuff~ has happened, and more stuff is to come, but for now? JETPACKS! \o/]

Comments

[caelus]

[jim hasn't been around in a good long while. busy with a five year mission and all that jazz. he didn't expect to come back onto the plane, something he's not spoken to any of his crew or senior staff about because---he's pretty sure they'll think he's crazy or playing a prank of some sort.

but coming onto the plane and hearing a shouted warning of "watch out below" has him curious, and he makes his way over to where it's come from---which is a coliseum of some sort.

he really needs to finish reading that pamphlet and stop fanboying over the fact that it's paper. he looks up at the dude with armor like the lady he'd met before just a different color---the armor is more than a bit impressive.

he cants his head as he peers up at the ledge where the other guy is at.]

Coming down? You sure about that?

[vengefulagent]

[Wash flicks his helmet loud speaker on again--he is pretty high up, after all and had used it to begin with.]

Uh, of course I am. That's why I'm up here now, not because I have a deathwish or something. If I fall, you and anyone else in the area will know about it so you won't be in the way. You...don't want this armor landing on your head, trust me.

[Not that he's experienced that, but he knows how heavy it is.]

Besides...this is going to be pretty cool. You're gonna want to watch from a safe distance.

[caelus]

Yeah, that doesn't exactly sound comfy. [jim admits it with a small quirk of a grin. the guy says it's supposed to be cool, so he'll take him at his word. he can't really call the guy out on having a deathwish or anything because, well, he's done worse.

on multiple occasions.

he backs up to what he hopes is a safe distance, and looks back up, raising his voice a bit more so it can reach him.]

This good?

[vengefulagent]

It's actually not that bad! [He wiggles in place a bit, waving his arms and stuff to prove it's easy to move in.] There's like this whole gel layer and stuff so there's no chaffing, and it's actually pretty comfortable when you get used to it. [He shrugs] The outside is a different story.

[Wash watches the guy back up, and then he nods.] Yeah, that looks good! [He takes a deep breath, letting it out slowly.] Okay...here I go!

[He prepares himself for that heart-in-the-throat feeling as he pushes off and forward--and starts to fall. Falling's the easy part. Making sure he starts up the jetpack just right so he doesn't torque his body too much and jerk something out of place is another thing, as is staying up in the air for a good amount of time. The moment his stomach enters his throat after his heart, he switches on the jet pack and feels that jerk as his momentum is forced in the other direction.

And he does fly up! And forward! He's not steady, and the noises he makes very much convey that he's still not really used to it, but he eventually does come back to the ground, cutting the jetpack's systems when he's a couple feet up. He lands with a grunt and breathes a little heavily, but he's still so excited. He did it on his own! And he didn't break his legs!]

H-hah! See!

[traitortwin]

[South has been mad. Capital M-A-D mad. She's off the leaderboard, shit's really sucking right now, there's a metric fuckton of other bullshit around the MoI that may or may not even be related but she doesn't care, she has spent the past little while hating it all. Everything and everyone. No exceptions. The only time anyone has seen her has been when she has to be somewhere and they happen to have to be there, too. Otherwise, she's been pointedly avoiding any and all contact with anybody.

Well... until now.

She's not over it. She's far from over it, let's be honest. But at least she's not as outwardly mad anymore. Just slightly more pissy than her usual amount of pissiness.

She's passing by the Colosseum when she hears that call. She stops in her tracks, ends up staring up at him, squinting.]

.... Seriously?

[vengefulagent]

[He's definitely about to jump when he hears her voice and that stops him. With everything that's gone on, he...hasn't exactly made a conscious choice to avoid her, but has known that doing so would be a wise decision if he wants to continue living. He has felt bad though. It's not an easy thing to watch. As much as they all want to be in the top spots, it's hard not to feel sorry for teammates when they drop down in ranking. He just hasn't said anything about it because really, how can that help? Besides, he's been in the #6 spot for what feels like ages, and sometimes, he wonders if that's as high as he'll ever get.

Well, that's why he's doing some extra training with the jetpacks. They wouldn't be doing training with them if they weren't going to be important for something some day, so he might as well get on top of it.]

Yeah, this seems like a good spot. [After a moment's thought, he waves her up.] I brought a couple others just in case. You know, if you're interested.

[traitortwin]

[It's cool. Avoiding an angry South while shit is going down is just a natural, completely subconscious self-preservation instinct and survival tactic.

She's still staring up at him.... crosses her arms and rolls her eyes.]

Yeah, no. Not right now. I think I'll watch, though.

['Cause either you almost fall on your ass and that's amusing as hell, you actually do fall on your ass and need some help getting the fuck back up so she might as well be here, or you succeed in a flaily sort of way and she still gets entertained.]

[vengefulagent]

[...He'd rather you didn't watch, South, but it's not like he has much choice in the matter. A sigh escapes his lips. But then...he realizes that even if he does fall flat on his ass? No one would believe it happened because it's happened here on the Plane and not in front of everyone else in their reality.

It's the small things.]

Well okay! You don't know what you're missing out on...

[traitortwin]

[Yep. You get no say. She's watching. Deal with it.]

Uhhh, yeah I do, I've used one before. [... she is such a snot jesus]

You gonna jump now, or what?

[vengefulagent]

[He fidgets in place a little bit.] W-Well, I was going to, but now you've made me all nervous! [He glances down at the ground below, then back to her.] Do you think you could...I don't know, turn around or something?

[So says the Freelancer who had no problem jumping off a 100+ story building when it was collapsing in on itself. Of course, the fact that it was a 100+ story building collapsing in on itself didn't exactly give him a choice in the matter at the time. At least he got to air-surf. That was cool.]

[traitortwin]

[... ... ... ]

Nah. I'm gonna watch. What's the matter? Little bit of stage fright?

[vengefulagent]

[Defensively] No! I'm not scared. I'm just...being cautious, okay?

[He waits a moment, hoping...and of course, he has an audience now with North there and yeah, he definitely feels there's no way to get out of it now.] Um, I'm going to go now! So you know!

[Mutters under his breath:] Just remember what it said to do in the manual. [He takes a deep breath and forces himself to push off, activating the jetpack. He lifts off, his ascent very wobbly but he levels out a long moment later. As he stays in the air, he can't help letting out a whoop of joy.] See, how do you like that?

[traitortwin]

You're always cautious, Wash, tell me something I don't expect out of you every second of the day.

[She watches, though, thank you very much~ Her eyebrows actually go up when the jetpack activates a little farther away from the ground than she figured would happen. But she keeps her eyes on him, arms still crossed, and snorts.]

Any monkey can make it hover. You gonna fly, or what?

[Hi, she might actually be having a little fun with this. Shhh, it's a secret.]

[vengefulagent]

[Actually, he thinks that there aren't any monkeys that can fly these things, not unless someone was particularly cruel and just left them to their own devices, but that was a place he really didn't want to go with his thoughts.]

Yeah, I'm getting there! [He can't help sounding a bit defensive, but hey, the teasing does its job. Carefully, he adjusts a few things and soon is flying forward! Unfortunately, he's getting to the end of this jump as he's drifting closer and closer to the ground instead of maintaining height, and soon hits the ground a little harder than intended. He's okay, though. The jolt up his legs don't jar him too much. He just wobbles for a second as the weight of the jetpack threatens to tip him back, but he rights himself and turns around to find South.]

How's that for a flying monkey?

[traitortwin]

[She watches, and while she's... admittedly a little impressed he hasn't managed to hurt himself yet? He also just... said that. And so, she ends up laughing.]

Youuu said it, not me. [Smiiirk!] Gonna try that again?

Threadjacking myself! Oh yes. I went there. Take that, me.

[betrayedtwin]

[A lot of things have happened lately. A lot. And he's done his best to not talk about things in his reality when South's and his paths have crossed. Things stay a little less awkward that way. It kind of kills him, though, not knowing what's going on in hers, but he can take a guess just from her demeanor, and he's always been able to tell how angry she has been just from her body language alone.

But seeing her today? Makes him truly happy. He's always happy to see her, but it's been so long since he's seen his South here without less of an air of emotional fury around her than usual. Things must be settling over there.

He wanders over to her, but before he speaks, he glances in the direction where she's looking (and where he can swear he just heard Wash) and just stops briefly, shaking his head. He gives her a look that's a mix of disbelief and amusement.]

He's not serious, is he?

ooooh dem's fightin' words

[traitortwin]

[She's been less than thrilled to see him around on the Plane lately, just by dint of not wanting to deal with the fact that he's... not. "Not" is a good word for it. She'll leave it at that. One word, just to summarize, just to keep it all nice and contained so she won't dwell on it extensively. (She'll still dwell on it, of course. It just won't branch out into how not it is. ... It's something, at least.)

Today, she's okay. So she doesn't mind him making his way over, and she stays where she is, still smirking up at Wash. And when North speaks, she snorts, amused, and shakes her head. There's a smirk tugging at the corner of her lips.]

Ohhhh yeah. He's serious.

[She sounds like she's on the verge of snickering.]

I fight dirty, what can I say?

[betrayedtwin]

Yeah, I was afraid of that. [He chuckles though, and folds his arms over his chest as he waits. Makes him wonder if the Wash in his reality is doing (or has already done) something similar.]

No one's told him about Georgia, huh? [He almost didn't ask that, but it seems like a safe question.]

|D

[traitortwin]

Doubt it. He'd probably be freaking out even more. [Smiiirk~]

[betrayedtwin]

No wonder no one's told him. [He shakes his head, amused. But oh, he catches that smirk of hers and he can't help doing the same.] I bet you he doesn't last more than ten seconds in the air.

[traitortwin]

Please. Ten's probably too generous. I give him five. [That smirk turns into a liiiittle more of a grin.] Wanna bet on it?

[betrayedtwin]

You know it. [He cocks an eyebrow at her.] So, what are you willing to lose?

[traitortwin]

[She thinks about that for a second. What stakes can she even name, since they're not-- nope not thinking about that. Oh hey, there's an idea...]

... Food. He lasts longer than five seconds, I make whatever you want. He drops before that, you're cooking.

[Either way, it's a meal she doesn't have to eat in the mess. Yes?]

[betrayedtwin]

[He has a feeling it would've come down to food, and he really doesn't mind, not at all. It's been a while since he's made anything for her, and vice versa.] Ohhh, that's a good one. [He holds his hand out.] You're on.

[traitortwin]

[She takes that hand, grinning a little, like she's already won.

But a few seconds later, they find out that, well, she doesn't win.]

Oh, goddammit. [She mutters, sighs, crosses her arms and grumbles like a child as she glares off to the side. Yep, time to be a sore loser for a few seconds...]