video/action » un:millerlite

[pampa]

[ miller got with the program... quick. he wakes up near the observation deck and snaps up the communicator that won't stop chirping at him and julie's necklace that's also within his grasp - he rubs his fingers over the beads before pocketing it. jumpsuit... magboots. back to square one. god, he hates space. in his fugue at first he thinks it's julie's voice, but it's not. and just as quickly he pieces together that this isn't eros. he sneers at the foreign insignia on the wall and starts scrolling through menus until the stupid recording stops. he logs in after a few different username kickbacks and pulls up a video feed. no time like the present to figure this shit out, right?

a surly-looking man with a (fake) mohawk appears on the network, the giant window of space his backdrop. he hasn't actually looked through said window yet though. ]

You tried to save the world? Yeah, okay. I was just risking my neck to save the whole goddamn Solar System, but I guess. You know, fine, that's great, I can always take a detour. [ he does not look like it's fine OR great okay. ] So what is this? Dusters, Earthers... I know this is an Inner operation. No way Belters are in the kidnapping people business. Unless it's profitable. And let me tell you right now, I'm about as useless a pickup as they come.

[ miller scrubs a hand over his mouth and turns, finally, to the bay window. concern flickers over his face, maybe fear too. but when he turns back to the video his expression is clear. he can't let this distract him, he has a job to finish. ]

Can I get a headcount at least? I'm sure I'm the only Belter on this rust-bucket too. [ he smooths two fingers along the seam of the window, making a little huffing sound when it comes back dirty. ] Well, here's something that might interest you Earthers: Eros is on a collision course for your precious blue globe, so hook me up with an escape pod. A frickin' catapult, I don't care. I was busy, you don't get to just take grand gestures like that away from a guy. [ okay this is edging towards counterproductive so he just groans and shakes his head, ending the feed after a terse: ] Miller out.

[ if anyone comes by the deck, he'll be just as grumpy, looking over the stars and wondering why he doesn't recognize a single one. miller rubs at his eyes, his free hand reaching into his pocket to touch the necklace - oddly the only thing they didn't take from him. and yet it was the only thing of value he was carrying other than a vac suit and a goddamn nuke. when you get close enough, you'll probably hear him muttering nonsense to himself but the gist of it is: ] I hate space.

Comments

[morphogenia]

[She doesn't miss that look, but feels compelled to answer. He needs to be mentally prepared, okay?] Yeah that seriously happened. Everyone is talking about it including a lady I'm like reasonably sure is honest with me.

[Okay now back to that sad place.] Did I do something wrong?

[subplot]

[She glances his way before looking back out at the expanse of space.] There isn't anything like that where I come from. Are terminals like this the same as the ports that you're used to?

[It's asked with a lot of hope, because she desperately wants to understand more about this place and where they are. She's far from home, and she knows that, but that isn't enough. If he's familiar with the layout and the way things here work, then maybe she stands a chance of getting herself and Frank home.]

[tumang]

[ If Amos was someone else, he'd roll his eyes, or push. Make sure it hurt. Holden would probably do that, just to make a point. ]

Funny that you care, isn't it?

[pampa]

[ oh, earthers, so cute and clueless. he affects a patient expression for her benefit, but he's definitely not feeling up to tourguide of space at the moment. ]

This [ he gestures big, speaking slow as if to a child. ] is space. I live on a rock. Couldn't be more different.

[ okAY miller but that's not completely honest. he sighs, scrubbing a hand over his freshly short hair and then his face. ]

I was in space, when I got pulled here. My first ever spacewalk - what a joke, huh? [ wait wait wait he's just processing what she said. ] Did you say there's no Ceres in your system?

[ because that's... weird. and also terrifying. ceres might be a shithole but it's HIS shithole. not so different from hell's kitchen really. ]

[pampa]

[ kid logic. it's charming in its way, but he can't help wondering about her parents. are they missing her? do they even know she's missing? does she have parents at all? questions he won't ask, but they flit through his mind at rapidfire anyway. ]

I just got here twenty minutes ago, kid. Haven't tried to get acquainted with a door like that yet. [ but maybe he should investigate...? nah, there are probably people better than a shitty exdetective for that. wait, how did he already fuck this up? ] ...What are you talking about?

[pampa]

[ it is funny, just not in a ha-ha way. his hand reaches deeper into his pocket until he can wrap his fingers around the beads of julie's necklace, his eyes never leaving amos'. ]

If there's no Earth who are we gonna make fun of, right?

[spinals]

that makes sense i guess
belter for someone from the asteroid belt
i guess that makes me a mooner

[pampa]

[ oh my god?!?!?! he's actually laughing right now. bless u tiny moon girl. ]

Maybe we should come up with a different name

[tumang]

[ As much as Miller likes to pretend he doesn't give a damn about anything, it's obvious to anyone who has spent five minutes with him that he does. In sort of a desperate way.

Amos remembers drinking in his name and honor. And now he's here. ]

Yeah, right.

[ Amos sighs. ]

Look, just. Don't go spacing yourself just because you can't find a solution to the situation we're in, okay?

cw: suicidal ideations etc.

[pampa]

[ he squeezes his hand around the necklace until he's sure it will make an indent, knuckles bright white in his pocket. don't kill yourself when things get hard, because that's the kind of man he is, right? that's the kind of man amos thinks he is. joke's on him though because he'd always been too much of a coward to do it before. think about it? sure, yeah. nearly daily. but survival is what he does best, in the bare minimum - it's something all belters excel at. but maybe it's something miller has a particular knack for. ]

Don't tell me you'd miss me, Earther.

[ the word is more of a defense mechanism here than any reflection of amos himself. amos isn't an earther the way his partner was. he isn't self-righteous and self-important. he's damn near a belter himself, really, which is why the words come out strange and uncertain. ]

I've gotta stick around to kill myself for the right cause, remember?

[ and really, that's more to the point. if he kills himself before getting back to eros, that shit rots the whole system after it wipes out earth. he doesn't think about what he's admitting here - that maybe he knew, from the beginning, that rock was a one-way trip for him. ]

[spinals]

( you're welcome grumpy belt man )

cerites? ceresi? asteroidians?

[pampa]

I meant your name
there's nothing wrong with Belters

[spinals]

( tiny moon girl works a+ for her )

i'm mirandan

[subplot]

No, there is. It's just inhabitable.

[Because it's a rock in the form of a dwarf planet that Karen actually knows nothing about. Which means that he's either full of shit or there's alien life out there that she should get info on so she can report on it as soon as she's back home. Which is the single most laughable thought she's had since arriving here, and she turns her head to fix him with a skeptical look.]

What were you doing out in space?

[pampa]

So you do know it. [ joookes ]

I was blowing up another asteroid. Eros. It's a long story, but it got infected. 100,000 Belters lost. It was headed straight for Earth so me and Fred Johnson - yeah, that Fred Johnson, of the OPA - commandeered that Mormon ship. The Nauvoo. [ wow has he lost you yet. he makes spooky hand motions around the name of the ship. whatever. ] We're gonna launch it like a slingshot and push Eros off course, but first I was there to nuke the docks so no one could get there and get infected with that shit, too.

[pampa]

[ good bc it's forever her name now ]

Good for you kid

Say does it rain on your moon

[morphogenia]

Well be careful! [Kamala starts to lecture. She's gonna look out for the weird and mysterious stranger!!!! Unless of course she gets distracted.] Wait only twenty minutes ago? Seriously? Ugh this place is so weird.

[Back to what he was saying like five minutes later.....] Huh? Oh. It's probably nothing. You just seemed upset to see me for a second. I wasn't sure if I stole your spot in like at the gyro shop or something back home.

cw: suicidal ideations etc.

[tumang]

[ Amos's jaw ticks. It's not nerves, it's just mild annoyance at the nonchalant, joking way Miller goes at it. Survival is also in Amos's veins, runs through him like his blood does. It's what he does best. ]

Well, you do make a good punching bag.

[ He doesn't mean it, and it's obvious in the tone of his voice, but he still pretends he does, keeps his expression as neutral as he knows how to make it. ]

Julie Mao, huh?

[pampa]

[ he laughs, an utterly lost, humorless sound. the darkness resonates through his eyes with the disturbance. ]

Yeah. Julie fucking Mao. [ miller takes the necklace out then, bringing it into view and looking at it before tossing it up just a few inches and catching it again. the low gravity makes it look dramatic and cool anyway, and he pushes an audible breath out through his nose when it lands safely in his palm. ] Julie... Mao.

[ all of this was about her. she brought him to the crew, and gave him a reason to stay. without even being alive herself, she had given miller a reason to live. ]

[pampa]

Be careful... of doors?

[ he lifts an eyebrow with a healthy dose of skepticism, waiting for an answer when instead he gets... a string of words that mean next to nothing to him. ]

It's not like an Earther to admit stealing something from a Belter. [ and then an audible deflation because he doesn't think she'll even know what that means. ] Don't sweat it, kid.

[donkeyballs]

[ Alex nodded. ] Tha's right. But then-- [ He hesitated. Damn. How much should he actually say, here?]

Do you remember the last one failin'? When it got set to the 60 second timer?

[morphogenia]

I literally have no idea what you're talking about. I will say that I have a policy of taking responsibility for my mistakes.... because otherwise Ammi will yell a lot. She really has the scariest looks.

[Cue dramatic sigh!!!!!] My point is feel free to ask for help! [This has nothing to do with her point at all.]

[pampa]

[ his heart races, he has no idea what alex is talking about. miller decides to finish off his glass and pour another one before trying to answer, closing his eyes through the burn. jesus, this stuff is awful. it's doing the trick though - numbing his senses and making it easier to take in what he's being told at face value. ]

I had just planted the first charge. [ that alex knows what happens after-- what is this, time travel? it's already bullshit that they're in a diffeernt solar system with no way to get back to theirs. but this is entirely Too Damn Much. he hazards a wary glance alex's way before taking back drink #2 all at once. ]

[pampa]

[ he's not really sure what she's talking about either, but it's never stopped him before. miller shrugs. ]

What is it you think you can help me with, Earther?

[donkeyballs]

[ Alex hasn't even touched his drink, watching Miller with a wary look. ]

And that's all you remember, before comin' here. [ Half a question, half a statement. He raised his good hand to scratch at his forehead. ]

Damn. Miller - It's been a long time, since then. Eros... You stayed on Eros.