[text/video] un: @skull

[ryuji]

[A few days after gravity is restored to the station, Ryuji returns to the mess hall from Haru's garden to find a small robot flipped upside down, panicking through a series of morse beeps and boops, which- okay, that's kind of cool, and quickly figures out that the paneling and suction entrances of the little guy means it's probably meant for filtration and cleaning.

Looks pretty study, looks... waterproof, maybe? He lends a hand to get him right side up and it starts slowly moving forward. Ryuji takes out his communicator and immediately films this as it happens, because, why not?

He posts two videos on the network- the roomba moving down the hall and one, a few hours later in the fitness center as it crawls from the edge, and dives right in.]

Oh shit! Are you supposed to do that?

Whoa, whoa- I don't know how to fix you if you--- WHOA, COOL.




Hey, sup?

Just lettin you guys know the pool looks crystal clear now. All thanks to this little dude.

I figure I should give 'em a name but uh

Everything that comes to mind is kinda lame

Anyway, I think it's good? Anyone wanna give it the first try?

[Complete with file0033.png - a picture of crystal clear water.]

Comments

[ryuji]

Doesn't matter to me much either way. Your style is your style.

[And as he considers pondering how he wants to make entrance into this chlorinated pond, he adjacently thinks about the way Kaldur speaks and wonder if him and Yusuke would get along.

Which changes pace pretty rapidly as he starts to take his clothes off. Here Ryuji is, a scrawny Japanese ex-track team member, all of 17, completely dimmed in comparison to someone that muscular. He'd been working out for nearly a year and hadn't seen much progress. It's not jealousy on his behalf, but admiration. Guys who could get that sort of structure typically took really good care of their bodies.

His hands are webbed. And his feet. Holy shit?

Kaldur shouldn't meet Yusuke. He'd ask to paint him. In the end, he winds up not just canonballing straight in, but rather, taking a seat at the edge of the pool and letting his legs dangle freely in the water.]

Ever try out for a swimming team or you think that'd be illegal?

[aequoreal]

( kaldur does spend a good amount of time training, but it isn't out of vanity. it's because his missions, the work of the team — that's physically taxing stuff and his physiology gives him some advantage, but not nearly enough to rely on that alone against the villains they face all too frequently.

stripped of his clothes, kaldur dives into the water. it's a clean dive, barely a splash to it, and he stays underneath the water for a long while, diving the length of the pool, turning beneath the water and diving back before coming back up near ryuji's legs. )

I have not tried. I did not go to school on the surface.

[ryuji]

[Oh no. It's like verbal diarrhea at this point- he feels it deep down his vocal chords as it rises up, spreading out of his mouth like a bullet that can't be deflected or slowed down.]

You mean like, a school of fish?

[And as soon as he says it, he realizes what he's done, and covers his mouth. He doesn't have to be shamed, he does it himself.]

A-nyway.

[aequoreal]

( kaldurdives again so that he doesn't have to respond immediately. he doesn't quite feel the urge to roll his eyes, but he wouldn't want ryuji to see the rueful expression he wears for a moment.

his mentor had been made fun of, on the surface. kaldur knows this. )

Atlanteans developed from humans. ( he says when he emerges again, a little further from ryuji. )

[ryuji]

[He has this way about him that naturally seems to push people away, something he's always been pretty regretful of. Where most people had a brain to mouth filter, Ryuji was completely dependable for saying what was exactly on his mind at every given moment, which was... probably tiring for most people.

He smiles from his seated position, albeit sheepishly, when he moves his hand down from his mouth.]

Sorry, I didn't mean nothin' by it. You're completely cool to just go "Shut up Ryuji" whenever you want. You probably should. I talk way too much anyway. And I'm a sucker for really bad puns.

[Right. He should steer this someplace else.]

What's it like? Your home, I mean.

[aequoreal]

( ryuji does talk a lot. it reminds kaldur of wally. it's a comparison that brings grief with it, but kaldur is skilled at hiding that. )

It is all right.

( a beat. he shifts onto his back, drifting. ) My Earth, or the city I grew up in?

[ryuji]

[Ryuji wishes he could run as fast as Wally. Even at his best, when he was still a track star and before his leg broke, that still would be impossible. But measuring up to his cut of parlance? Probably possible. Sorry, Kaldur.]

Whatever you wanna talk about.

[They had time, right? Endless amounts of it. Time to learn about all the worlds everyone had come from, time to learn about all the futures they each saw themselves in. That much was definitely on their hands. Ryuji leans forward, fingers circling in the water as he contemplates jumping in after all.]