➹ 97 | Voice

[peektuttut]

So Claudia had this great idea a few weeks ago, and given the lightness of the mood around here lately...Well, we were thinking laser tag would be a great addition to the Barge. I've been messing around with laser weapons, and vests - it's a really basic transmit/receive system - and I might have a few almost finished prototypes.

Would anyone actually be interested in a game? [Slightly sheepish, he isn't sure if he's too old to be asking about laser tag, but laser tag is awesome so shut up doubts.] We could throw in elements of capture the flag, make it really involved. It would be a good way to spend some excess energy, I figure.

[Private to Claudia]

Hope you don't mind I spilled the beans, but I do have a prototype, if you want to take a look at it. It's still really basic. [I.e., feel free to upgrade it. 8)]

[Private to Dick]

Want to watch a movie?

[Private to Sara]

Hey, uh. This is a little awkward, but Dick mentioned running into you during port. Did he seem...himself?

[Private to Luther]

How do you feel about basketball?

[Open spam]

[Usually, Tim would just eat in his cabin. He had his whole apartment in there, and his kitchen tended to be better stocked than the Barge kitchen, especially when they were low on help and they ate sandwiches for days on end. Tim had gotten picky(er) about his food in the past few years, and day after day of ham sandwiches were not conducive to putting on spandex and kevlar and doing backflips.

So normally, he'd keep to his dining room, with his egg whites and his salads, but today he was tired of staring at the same walls, with no one there to eat with. So he headed out in the afternoon, pausing long enough to lock his door (which looked simple as a key in a lock, but really was much more complex than that because Tim is a paranoid weirdo) before heading down the corridor to the mess hall. There he got the dreaded, calorie consuming sandwich, and a soda. He hadn't had a Zesti in way too long, and what they had here wasn't an exact match, but it was close enough.

He picked a table closer to the center of the hall than he usually sat, but kept his back to the emptiest section, keeping the entrance in view. Old habits die hard.]

Comments

[Private]

[prayformefather]

Sure. [He isn't saying no, but he does sound incredibly sulky/fine I'll do it but I'm not going to enjoy it.]

[Private]

[peektuttut]

[Bro :|]

Cheer up, it'll be fun.

[Private]

[prayformefather]

If you say so. [:|]

[Private] spam?

[peektuttut]

[I SAID CHEER UP >| And in an hour, after successfully forcing Dick and Sara on a date, Tim is heading for the gym.]

spammmm

[prayformefather]

[And Luther is sort of petulantly standing outside the gym. He showed up, what else do you want. :|]

spammmm

[peektuttut]

[Be happy. B| Tim waves when he spots Luther, and pushes open the gym door, heading right in.] Hey. So, HORSE, or do you want to play a game?

spammmm

[prayformefather]

HORSE is fine. [And he is otherwise just following you in because nothing else to contribute. :|]

spammmm

[peektuttut]

[He will get you talking one day, sir. B|] Cool. [And yeah that sounds like the end of a conversation, so he lets it drop while he retrieves a ball, tossing it toward Luther on his way back.]

Did you play on a school team?

spammmm

[prayformefather]

[Which Luther catches and bounces a few times before passing it back to Tim.]

No. Did you?

spammmm

[peektuttut]

[Tim catches it and dribbles a few times, too, taking an easy shot for the first round.]

No. I thought about it a couple times, but it didn't work out. [We will not bring up tennis. B|]

spammmm

[prayformefather]

[Luther nods and goes to retrieve the ball, dribbling it a little as he walks back to take his shot. That really wasn't anything he didn't expect, given what Tim did with his free time.]

I guess you keep pretty busy.

spammmm

[peektuttut]

Tend to. [He waits, watching Luther prep the shot.] So did you, I guess. [Your extracurriculars are just a little less on the up and up. :|]

spammmm

[prayformefather]

[Luther shoots, and it hits the backboard's corner before falling in, and he shrugs by way of answering the question. Their definitions of keeping busy were pretty different.] I guess.

spammmm

[peektuttut]

[Tim goes to get the ball, and heads back to to the three point line, dribbling a little and lining up the shot.]

So are we ever going to have a long, in depth conversation?

spammmm

[prayformefather]

[Luther shrugs.]

I guess that depends on what you want to talk about.

spammmm

[peektuttut]

Pick a topic close to your heart. [He shoots, and makes the basket, smiling a little.]

spammmm

[prayformefather]

[Luther just laughs and retrieves the ball, pointedly not picking something to talk about.] That is the lamest thing I've ever heard.

spammmm

[peektuttut]

It was supposed to be. [Tim smiles a little wryly, backing away so Luther can take his shot.] And you didn't pick something. I am not going to play HORSE in silence, dude.

spammmm

[prayformefather]

[Luther considers for a long moment, looking like he's just trying to line up his shot.] Why are you here?

spammmm

[peektuttut]

[He hates that question. It's always a selfish answer, at least a little. Or it was. Maybe now it isn't so bad, because his deal isn't exactly selfish anymore, but - he doesn't like making this about why he's here. It's about why the inmate's there, in the end.

He shrugs.] Because it's worth it. I like helping people, when I can. It feels right.

spammmm

[prayformefather]

[He shoots, watches as the ball bounces off the hoop and goes to retrieve it.]

And you couldn't do that back home? [It's not judgmental, he's more just curious.]

spammmm

[peektuttut]

I could. And since no time passes at home, when I'm here, I can do both.

[He shrugs, holding up his hands to catch the ball.] And this way someone's kid doesn't have to die, back home. So like I said - it's worth it.

spammmm

[prayformefather]

[Luther stares at him for a moment, surprised, because oh shit. That's definitely a good reason to be somewhere like here. He carefully passes him the ball back, still looking a little unsettled.]

What happened?

spammmm

[peektuttut]

[Tim dribbles, watching the ball instead of his inmate, thinking of Roy, and Ollie, and Lian.]

The city where she lived was attacked. A building collapsed, and she didn't make it out.

[He moves to the side of the basket, lining up his shot.] She was five. Maybe six. [He shoots, and it bounces off the far rim.] She deserves better. [Passing the ball back to Luther, once he grabs it.]

spammmm

[prayformefather]

[He caught the ball, still a little rattled by the story. He might have killed Robbie (and sort of David, even though he really didn't feel like that was his fault because he hadn't meant to, he'd slipped and kicked Luther in the face so it wasn't like he could have caught him), but he didn't like violence, hadn't been exposed to a lot of it. The fact that that sort of thing could just happen to a five year old kid was kind of horrifying, something you heard about on the news but never had to come in direct contact with it.]

Sorry. [And he doesn't really know how to ask this, so.] Who was she?