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[A little while after that mystery message drops...]

"Neuroscience & Medicine"?

Not "Medicine & Neuroscience"? Or just "Medicine"? Or multiple major branches listed separately?

It caught my eye.

We have a fair number of spacefarers around. Can you weigh in on whether neurological health is usually a top medical concern on space stations?

Unrelated topic, but did anyone else find a book in their quarters? I finished mine and I'd like to trade.

[[ooc: feel free to threadjack/thread with people who aren't erika up in here.]]

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[ venus kind of knows that feeling? except she usually just says the first, most useless one. and then beats herself up over it after. ]

Oh, right! Right. [ she thinks for a second, and nothing really comes to her, so she just sort of blurts out- ] Uh, what kind of music do you like?

[Uhhhhhhhh.] I don't...know. I don't listen to much music. [She's wracking her brain trying to think of things, but she has to go back...years to find anything. And at that point it's just whatever she heard as a kid. PAIR OF WINNERS UP IN HERE] Slower-paced things? Like...heartfelt. But not cheesy.

Aw. That's sweet? [ she's pretty sure it's sweet. she smiles, radiant and blushing and dorky all over. ] I think I'd like that kind of stuff too. I don't really listen to much music either, though, so. I guess I have no idea?

[ oh- right. ] Your question.

[Being called sweet is WEIRD and Erika is a little red too.

She keeps kicking the underside of the bar, like it'll help her think of a question faster. Thunk. Thunk. Thunk.]

Mmmmmmh. -Where are you from?

Ugh. Kansas. [ venus kicks the underside of the bar, too. except she's still not exactly used to being the devil, so it makes a sort of creak sound as her foot dents the metal. shit. ] In the US. It's like... the worst? The worst. There's just dust and farms and churches. We don't even have hills. It sucks.

[ okay, so that's not entirely fair.

still pretty accurate, though. ]

Uhhh. Hmm. Where are you from?

[That's somewhere in the middle. Is it the place with the corn? Hmm. At least it's Earth.]

I'm from Tokyo. It's got, [fuck,] a lot.

[How do you even elaborate on that. Erika's mind is a log jam of disparate things trying to be said and she's glaring at the counter like that'll unjam it.]

Oh my god, yeah! I've seen. Pictures? And like, videos. On the internet.

[ the alcohol is kicking fully in, giving a pleasant lilt to her voice and finally kicking all her reservations out the window. god, she likes this feeling. ]

Erika!! [ if the sudden jump in volume is unexpected (though still manageable), it's probably not as unexpected as venus's actions. she leans backwards until she's balanced all the way off the chair, gently supporting herself with her wings on the ground. ] Erika, you gotta. Ask a question?

[ these questions aren't like, invasive or prying at all!! and even if she's fine with that for erika, she kind of wants to be asked some?? she's drunk enough to not care at this point! ]

I'm trying. [She's a spectator in her own brain right now, forced to sit back and watch things meander past instead of taking hold of the flow, and it keeps flopping back and forth between "kind of nice" and "kind of scary". And obnoxious, because she has to deliberately try to fetch memories more distant than the immediate, like the rules of this game.

The kicking continues. It takes the edge off the floaty, vague feeling, and distracts her from trying to untangle her words when she drops into rambling.]

How...mmm. What about...ugh. I never ask things like this. All I can think of is weird questions, like, if you think we're going to spend the rest of our lives here. Or if being a devil means you've ever eaten a soul. That's how it works in comics. But it's probably not realistic.

Haha. Those totally work? Honestly, just ask whatever. It's kind of just... an excuse to talk, you know? Like. It's so hard to talk normally, but like this you can just kind of. Say things. Just let them loose.

[ it's more questions than erika's supposed to ask!! but actually, venus doesn't care. she snickers and answers them in rapid succession. ]

Probably not. A lot of really smart people are looking for a way back, and I don't think we're going to die here. And definitely not on the soul eating thing?? I don't think the devil's supposed to even do that. [ her gaze drops down to the shot again. a fourth one... is an option... ] Mainly I just sort of. Try to do the things I want to do? Instead of beating myself over it. Or getting beaten up over it. Haha.

[ but that's an answer for another question. she taps and pokes and prods at the table for a few seconds, and then manages- ]

What's- boys or girls. Go.

[ and she's not going to bother elaborating past that. ]

[She's still processing this definition of a devil. What? What. That parses for a moment before Erika flushes.]

Boys. I think? But you can't, um, you can't draw good conclusions from samples. Small samples. Real people aren't like videos. [what did she just....say] Or like - yeah, I don't know. There's -

[She starts counting on her fingers with great, jittery focus.]

- I've met two girls before here, [recently, she omits, but the old part of her life is conceptually cordoned off from the rest,] then you, and Kholin-san. So you can't tell from that. But most of the boys are my brothers anyways. So I don't know. That's, that's the right answer. I can't choose. [She slaps her hands back into a laced-fingers position, primly.] And I don't think, I think I wouldn't know if I could. It's hard to tell. Is it usually hard to tell?

Oh, yeah. For sure. Like, I still don't really know? I mean. I know I like girls. Like, have you seen them? [ it's venus's turn to flush bright red, part from the alcohol and part from the fact that she's a gay disaster. ] But boys are, um, harder? To figure out. I thought I had to like them for a long time, but I'm not- That's not how it works?? At least, it shouldn't be. I hate that idea. But there's still some really pretty boys here on the station???

[ it's venus's turn to lay her head on the bar - much slower than erika, though, no thump coming through at all. she doesn't want to hurt her brainmeat. that would be bad, considering how foggy it already feels. ]

Girls are cute. I'm cute. [ a weird, drunk smile, somewhere between "relieved" and "going to start crying." ] I didn't think I'd ever get to say that? Haha. God.

[ count your blessings that she didn't even notice the "video" part. ]

[~~blessings counted~~

Oh. Oh, uh.

Okay, this is happening.

Erika lifts her head slowly, watching Venus like one might watch a large spider on a nearby wall. The spider is feelings. But she's not solid enough to close off, so all she can do is watch with deep trepidation and fretful eyes, feeling cracked-open and raw-edged and completely unequipped for this.]

Um, [she nods dumbly, not understanding much of anything,] are you sad?

Huh? Oh, no. No way. [ her eyes are watering, though?? it's alarming??? ] I just... I'm really lucky to have the people I do. You know?

[ she reaches up, wiping the eyes on her face off. the eyes all over her wings still mist up a little - but she's smiling, wide and clear. ]

You too. I'm lucky to have gotten to meet you. I guess that's what everyone says when they're drunk and don't have any inhibitions? But, I mean- you're really nice. Haha. You came and hung out with me when I was lonely, you know?

[Well. Well, if she says she's not sad, then Erika has to take her at her word for it, because effort otherwise is momentous and daunting; doubts are pushed back, shuttered, ignored, the motion a reflex.

She nods and nods. Knowing people does come down to luck, and it makes every difference.

Oh god what.]

I didn't - you invited me. I didn't, know. [Weak, pointless protests, protest for the sake of protest.]

Yeah? Of course you didn't know. Haha. You're not, like, psychic. Right?

[ she sounds actually serious for a moment - like the thought has only just occurred to her that maybe she's not the only paranormal thing on the station. but that eases away quickly enough, and all she's left with is a stuffed-up nose and a smile. ]

But whether you knew or not isn't really important. Because you're the one who came.

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