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

[tumang]

Yeah, we gotta be.

[ Because this planet they're orbiting doesn't look like anything he's ever seen. It's not part of their known system, and Amos had spent enough yet hopping from rock to rock and ship to ship to know the solar system pretty damn well. ]

You don't sound convinced.

[ Because Miller killed himself on Eros. The fate of a hero. ]

[pampa]

[ he trusts amos' authority on that so he just nods. as for the rest... ]

All I wanna do is get back so I can go to Eros where all that shit is. So maybe it sounds - weird for me to give a shit if it's here or not.

[ save the roci crew, he shouldn't care what happens to any of these people, right? once he thought amos and he were alike that way. they've both changed, though, haven't they? ]

[tumang]

Fuck, man. Your death wish that strong?

[ Beating around the bush isn't exactly Amos's style. ]

[pampa]

[ yikes. miller visibly hesitates. telling, but he glosses over it like it isn't anyway. ]

Not a death wish, but if I don't get back there what happens to Earth?

[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]

[ 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?

[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. ]

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. ]

[tumang]

[ Amos nods, eyes following the necklace when Miller produces it. ]

So what - we go home, and you go back to her? You wouldn't change anything?

[pampa]

[ that gets a quizzical look ]

As opposed to what? Watching the world burn?

[tumang]

[ Amos shrugs a shoulder. ]

Why not? What has the world ever done for you?

[pampa]

[ something almost sad flickers across his eyes, but it's gone just as quick, and miller just shakes his head. ]

30 billion people, Burton. One pathetic Belter is a safe trade for that, no matter who you ask.

[tumang]

[ Amos tsks, tongue between his teeth. Miller's never been to Earth, he's not seen it. The grime, the pollution sticking to every cell of every human being that isn't part of the .001%. The corruption, seeping through every single interaction because everyone needs so much.

Miller hasn't seen it. 30 billion people, and Amos isn't sure he'd save a single one of them. But this is why he doesn't make the decisions. That's why he isn't asked. ]

Hm. Well. Gotta jet, Miller.

[pampa]

[ he just barely manages to hold back the eye roll. ]

See you around, Earther.