CLOSED / REAP THE REWARDS OF PROXIMITY

[gyve]

WHO: kaladin et al
WHAT: november/december catch-all
WHERE: ACROSS THE GLOBE
WHEN: november/december
WARNINGS: n/a

( if you want to do a gen thread/quest together pm me or hmu at frooting! )

Comments

SPOCK / IF I WERE A WORM

[gyve]

—other scavengers out here, and the amount of the Alitta Virens we found might attract them. We've got a clear line of sight, maybe three miles, but don't let your guard down.

( kaladin decides the lone cactus he gives a wide berth might be the most relatable thing he's seen on this overpopulated planet.

spock is given an assessing look after he's had his fill respecting the protective spikes of the green, oblong plant. if he had protective spikes, maybe people would stop slapping him on the back after long night shifts. )

What's that thing you've been waving around?

[ektal]

[ Neither of them are boisterous, loud men. The silence between them has instead been quite comfortable, and so that's how he responds to Kaladin's warnings.

With silence.

It doesn't mean they aren't heard, as an assessing brown gaze makes clear when he lifts his head, but it's still returned to the device in his hand shortly after. A beep and another hard left has them altering course, focused. ]

It is machinery that came with me when I was transported here. I have used it often in my work to assess the composition of foreign materials and objects. Now, I am using it to seek out the Alitta Virens fragments. Further to your left, Captain Kaladin.

[gyve]

The "composition of foreign materials and objects," ( he repeats, loose gravel and sand grinding beneath his boots. ) You've got a feminine way about you.

Left?

( there's a small slope there that leads to a ditch. no more than two or three feet deep, but covered by an old wooden palette. kaladin tilts his head to get a better look under it... scavengers, alright. they must've had a load too large to carry back and dumped the rest to retrieve later.

sleeves are shoved up his forearms. )

Women study the sciences. Read, write, and make clever comments like you. ( with a grunt of exertion, fighting earth's gravity with his whole skeleton, he gets one side of the palette up. ) They eat like you, too.

1/3

[ektal]

2/3

[ektal]

[ ]

3/3

[ektal]

I have not yet encountered an individual who so blatantly assigned gender to cleverness. Though I am unfamiliar with your customs, I would encourage you not to limit yourself.

[ Impassively, he watches for a moment or two. Interesting how Kaladin still devotes energy towards emasculating him even while he struggles to lift a wooden palette. Interesting enough, in fact, that he allows himself to consider it for even a few more moments than he needs before finally reaching out to help.

His fingers hook within slats just to effortlessly lift the blockade out of Kaladin's way, a brow quirking ever-so-slightly. ]

If your women are devoted to studies, what are your men tasked with?

[gyve]

I've got it... I've got— ( the wood leaves his hands and clatters elsewhere, and spock is given a shaded look from between strands of hair. ) Thanks.

( working overtime is catching up with him, pairing poorly with earth's thin air. he has to heave a sigh at the shimmering horizon before getting back at it. spock's a good distraction for him, at least. )

Whenever I try to be clever, I get the nearest woman more or less advising me to keep to what I'm good at. Combat is a masculine art. Strategizing, too, apparently... and politicking, and organizing trade routes, and... whatever.

( they've had great success—this chunk is large, too, and hefted to spock's eye level by kaladin. ) Look at that... You know, our satchels would be a lot lighter if we separated the worm's fat from its skin. The oil is what they're really after, isn't it?

[ektal]

[ This is the oddest list of things, most of which he believes would benefit from an apparently feminine tendency towards research and science, but perhaps Kaladin is underestimating himself. In fact– ]

A logical approach. I myself will not discourage you from "cleverness" and creative thinking when it yields good ideas. [ The tricorder is lowered in order that he might reach into the pouch at his hip, having the good sense to pack what he deemed to be necessary supplies. Chief among them, a thin, short blade. ]

Do you have steady hands, Captain Kaladin?

[gyve]

( the slick pound of flesh in his palm is lowered, knuckles dripping with life-saving oil. being called logical shouldn't feel like this special a triumph. )

I do. ( he reaches for the knife, strands forming between wet fingers as they come apart. ) The skin is thick. Like a husk or shell, but it depresses like cartilage. What would you and your machine call that?

1/2

[ektal]

[ He looks down at Kaladin's gooey hand. ]

2/2

[ektal]

[ FLIPS THAT KNIFE IN HIS GRIP, carefully grasping the blade to extend its hilt towards his companion. We need not touch, thank you. ]

The machine shows composition. It is up to me to then draw conclusions based upon the readings.

And therefore what I would call it, independent of my tricorder, is a pliable exoskeleton. Is this terminology familiar to you?

[gyve]

( nice flip. he accepts the knife, admiring the simple act of kindness of offering it handle-first. wow, he just can't believe this charity has nothing at all to do with how slimy he is. )

Sure, it is. Crustaceans have exoskeletons. ( without hesitation, kaladin cuts into the worm flesh. close to the "pliable exoskeleton," but not so close that it'd ruin the flesh with bits of tough collagen. ) Crabs, bugs... that kind of thing.

( one is quick work, carefully deposited back in the waterproof satchel hanging from his shoulder. it weighs him down, rests its belly on the ground, while he withdraws another to begin fileting. )

You know what crabs are, right? I don't want to assume. Many people have made assumptions about me and my planet, so I wonder if it's been the same for you. I... Well... I don't want to alienate anybody.