video | un: NAILS

[nichocolatine]

[ the video begins with badou wearing one of his usual tees, carefully setting his phone down so the camera angle can spot him sitting on his living room floor surrounded by an array of dresses. affixed to his wrist is a little cloth pumpkin, stuck full of needles and pins. he's without his usual cigarette, instead sucking on a lollipop that stains his lips bright red. last time he made a post on the network his neck was bruised and bandaged — this time it's the same thing, but the bruise is angrier, spreading across his neck and shoulder, disappearing under a bandage and gauze that looks about ready to get changed in an hour or two. ]

Evenin'.

[ he picks up the skirt of one of the dresses, flipping it inside-out to access the pocket he'd been working on attaching. ]

So I'm sittin' here, mendin' dresses — as you do — and I nicked myself pretty good and I'm thinkin', well, shit, that's another one I gotta wait on, y'know?

[ he lifts a forefinger, displaying a bandage that looks an awful like like dora the explorer, and wiggles it in the direction of the camera. ]

It got me thinkin'—

How many of us here are just regular ol' humans? Or whatever. I'm talkin' no magic, no special augmentations, no fancy shamcy abilities that got you doin' better than the average guy.

[ he pauses to finish off a stitch, making a knot with his thread and cutting the excess with his teeth. ]

See, where I'm from, that ain't the norm. But that doesn't seem to be the case around here.

[ oh, one more thing— ]

And if you are one of the special ones, go ahead and tell us what you can do. Why not, right? What else do any of us got to hide at this point?

Comments

un: Kromer, audio

[gripper]

I'd say it's pretty even split back where I'm from, as far as "regular 'ol humans" and "special ones" go—tons of people go off and get augmentations, especially if they're Fixers. Tattoos, drugs, cybernetic prosthetics.

( her voice is light and normal until the last one—it edges a little on derision, then jumps back to nonchalance. )

Haven't got any of that myself, though... I prefer honing what I was born with, celebrating it. ( she doesn't hate people for it though



well. unless you go the metal route, then Fuck You! but otherwise, whatever, she'll just judge you quietly and make comments. )

[nichocolatine]

[ "fixers." one of don's then. ]

Yeah? What do you celebrate, exactly?

[gripper]

( how do you say "being untarnished" without sounding weird. )

My own strengths. The purity of flesh and blood. Suffering and anguish, as proof that one's alive and human. ( embrace pain ascend to godhood etc #justgirlythings ) I'm the leader of a military group back home, you could say... We're part of the Wing that goes around defending the District's values and uprooting any insurrections before they begin.

( ...that's her job, yeah. )

So naturally, my strengths are in leadership, conversation, and martial skills. ( she misses fighting. why is that woman the only one scratching that itch. ) I'd say I'm way above average as far as normal people go, but none of that's because of any augmentation or whatever—my second-in-command's got some going on, though. Hard worker, too.

[nichocolatine]

So you're a cop.

[ gross... acab!! badou will keep his face neutral though. don's technically a cop, and she's alright. he can loosen his prejudices a little. ]

Sure, sure, nothing beats hard work, et cetera. Not a lot of ball bustin' to be doin' here, though. You keepin' sharp, despite?

[gripper]

( yknow what. yes technically she is. the zwei association are more of cops but in terms of what she does for the corp in her district. yeah. )

Not as sharp as I'd like. I get to fight every so often, but it's nothing compared to back home, you know? ( she can still fight, she still practices her form, especially now that she has her lovely sword—but nothing's the same as a real battle. ) I was thinking of putting out a call for practice partners, but considering how many people balked at that woman's declaration for a fight to the death, I don't know there'd be many volunteers.

[nichocolatine]

[ badou blinks once.

then twice. ]

Y'know you can spar without havin' to fight to the death. Right? [ right?? tell him you know this, kromer. ] Hell, I know a guy or two who'd do it on the weekly.

[gripper]

( ? )

Where's the fun if there's no stakes?

[nichocolatine]

[ almost immediately, if a little weary, ]

So you're from Don's world, huh.

[gripper]

( oh, he's one of don's friends!

good. )

Bingo. ( yeah... all the women are like this. ) Are you two good friends? How nice for her! She can be a little overwhelming for people, so I always worry about her.

[nichocolatine]

Kinda hard to believe Don isn't up to her ears in friendlies back home.

[ especially considering y'all are just... Like That. ]

[gripper]

She's had a much warmer reception here, going by how willing people are to listen to her. Back home, she's... how to put it?

( kromer pauses like she's thinking. she didn't pay any mind to the sinners aside from sinclair, actually, so all of this is made up on her end... but with the way don quixote acts, her "justice", and what kromer knows is the norm in the city they come from— )/small>

Not everyone's as blindingly idealistic as her, and it probably rubs a ton of people the wrong way—especially with how bull-headed she gets about certain things.

[nichocolatine]

[ WELL. badou can't say he's all that surprised by that, either. don's endearing in her unfailing idealism, but he can see where others may find that a fault. hell, perhaps if he didn't come to know her any better, or she hadn't come to care for heine as much as she has, he may well have been one of those people. ]

And where do you fall in that? You — "worry" for her, right?

[gripper]

( a small smile. )

Yep, sure do. We're from the same City, after all... and we've gotten closer ( In A Way ) while we've been stuck here together. Isn't it only natural?

[nichocolatine]

[ don't mind badou noting the very obvious side-step of using the term friends. his own smile sharpens. ]

Well. Who'm I to say what's natural for other people, huh?

[gripper]

( smart. )

Is it different for you?

[nichocolatine]

Hell no. There are more than a handful of people back where I'm from I'd gladly leave to fend for themselves.

[ he's nice like that. ]