make a wish and i'll count to three [ota]

[resleeves]

» WHO? kovacs + you
» WHEN? mid june
» WHERE? various
» WHAT? backpack discovery, drinking, nostalgia, introspection
» WARNINGS? language, for sure. anything else, i'll update.

001. mess hall

[ hello unicorn.

it's the first thing that kovacs sees when he walks into the mess hall to get something to drink. hello unicorn emblazoned on a pink, dirty backpack. for a second, kovacs is taken right back to bay city, right back to that shitty dealer and his need to buy the whole fucking stash of drugs.

he can feel the harsh lights of the various establishments and smell the stench of booze and blood and death. for a second, kovacs just stares at the backpack, thinking it some kind of trick. when he realizes what the fuck he's doing, he steps closer and grabs the backpack.

it's light which means it's empty but it's still his and he doesn't waste any goddamn time in hefting it on one shoulder and then sitting down to eat.

hello unicorn. ]

002. bar

[ he's still wearing the backpack. in fact, he hasn't really taken it off since it showed up and he doesn't plan on it either. it doesn't matter that the fucker's empty, it matters that it's hit, it's from bay city and that's enough for a signal for him to tell him that he'll get back there one day.

but, today is not that day so today, he's drinking. while he drinks, he settles the backpack on the bar and goes through it again. there's still nothing but he wants to make sure he hasn't missed anything.

and then he decides to slide a bottle inside of the backpack and zip it up.

now, it's not empty. ]

003. observation area

[ that stupid fucking backpack's made him think of quell. he doesn't know why since she'd never seen it before, not even when she decided to pop up and fuck him up even more. but, he's desperate enough that he doesn't even mind when she appears to him and only him.

he misses her. that's the bottom line. he misses quell but it's a fucking stupid thing to be experiencing because she's dead and she's not coming back. not this time. her stack's probably in little pieces over harlan's world.

why hadn't he stopped to try and find it?

waste of time. ]

Fuck you.

[ and then he punches the observation window, doing absolutely no damage to the thick glass but cracking his knuckles a bit.

good. ]

Comments

002.

[spinals]

I like your backpack. ( says kat who either showed up some point after he put the bottle into the backpack or was there all along, who even knows. at any rate, she's behind the bar now and just —dusting, apparently. and cleaning some glasses. generally making sure things are looking good.

tending bar gives her something to do, even if it isn't her job here. she likes doing it. she likes being behind a bar and serving people drinks and listening to their stories, too. back on l-21, she'd worked at a bar on the shipyard and her daily goal had been to make the people coming in smile. to take some of the weight off their shoulders, if only for a little while.

it's much the same, here.

and look, her nose is nice and intact. unbroken and fully accounted for. please don't change that, kovacs. )

Re: 002.

[resleeves]

It's usually filled with drugs.

[ of course this thing would show up sans the important stuff. but, it wasn't surprising. this place wasn't going to give him things like Reaper and Stallion because that would have just made his stay more enjoyable. ]

It showed up earlier.

[ he shoots a look at the backpack, drops a hand on the stupid unicorn on the front of the bag. ]

I can't fucking get home but this fucking bag can get to me. How the hell does that make sense?

[ it didn't. ]

[spinals]

It doesn't. ( kat agrees. she smiles a little at the unicorn even as she says it, despite the fact that his hand covers most of it now. it's easier to smile at the unicorn than it is to dwell on the fact that how little sense all of this makes kind of scares her. )

At least there's alcohol? ( she offers after a moment. )

3 it's a miracle they both left the bar

[pampa]

[ miller comes up here at least once a day to look around, make sure there isn't anything he's missed. he's wearing his olive jumpsuit and black hat, as ever, but it's pretty obvious he's acquired something new too. his rhino is clutched in both hands, like he's taking aim at the glass from eight feet back or so. but to the noncasual observer the safety is on, no chance of an accidental firing here. it's just nice to imagine breaking the glass and floating off into space sometimes, so when kovacs slips into his line of vision and punches the glass, he puts his gun down and tilts his head. great minds think alike, isn't that the phrase? not like it would ever apply to these two morons. ]

Feel better, kid? [ it holds a note of concern if one were to really listen, but he's making his way over, gun held by the handle at his side as he slots in next to kovacs and tries to sneak a look at his hand. ]

Re: 3 it's a miracle they both left the bar

[resleeves]

No.

[ but that was his default state: shitty. he hadn't heard miller come up which just means he must have really been deep into the past, into his memories to miss that. quell would have been disappointed.

and he would have been okay with that if she'd just fucking been here.]

My hand hurts.

[ he clenched his hand into a fist, felt the throb make its way up his wrist. probably not broken but bruised.

annoying.

kovacs glances over at miller, eyes finding the new decoration at his side. ]

Not planning on using that against me because I punched the glass, right? Can't be vandalism if I didn't wreck anything.

[ his hand didn't count. ]

[pampa]

That's what happens when you punch a window.

[ he nods like he's talking to a slow child, only now catching sight of the pink backpack the other man has strapped on. maybe the comparison isn't too far off... ]

I wouldn't waste ammo on you, kid. [ he props an elbow up on the other man's arm which rests the barrel of the gun against his sleeve. rip why are you so tall kovacs. ] We could go wreck our livers instead. [ isn't that all they're good at? ]

003!

[marineris]

[Bobbie has fallen into a routine of doing rounds of the station twice a day, partially because it's habit and partially because, most of the time, there's absolutely nothing to do here. They're trapped, and until they get more than the shreds of information they're working with now, that isn't going to change soon.

Stations and ships in space tend to all fall into the same monochromatic color scheme, and pink certainly isn't a part of it, so when she catches her backpack out of the corner of her eye, it pulls her up short. She's heading towards Kovacs, about to ask him what the hell that thing even is, when he punches the window and she slows. That looked like it hurt.]

Everything alright?

Re: 003!

[resleeves]

Yep.

[ nope. ]

Just thought my hand could use some red to go with the ever present pale.

[ he shifts the backpack from one shoulder to the other and then looks back at her, expressionless. ]

Pretty, isn't it?

[marineris]

[Bobbie isn't entirely sure if he's talking about the blood, his backpack, or the view outside. She frowns a bit, but nods, crossing the room to join him.]

Let me see your hand.

003.

[ohshutup]

[Clara turns another page in her book, and doesn't look up. In a dry, disaffected voice, ]

What'd it ever do to you?

["It" being the poor, abused window. Show some heart, man.]

Re: 003.

[resleeves]

[ someone else was here. how had he fucking missed that? he'd been so preoccupied, so caught up in this business with his stupid fucking backpack and its connection to home that he'd felt disconnected from ever since quell's death. ]

Existed.

[ cliche. time to try a better line. ]

It's doings its part in not letting me or you or anyone fucking leave either. Remember that whole stuck on this shithole thing?

[ohshutup]

[She at least looks up from her book at that, if only to see if this man is actually a preteen boy throwing a fit of angst.]

Have fun sucking yourself out into the vacuum of space. Hear the air's great.

003

[possidetur]

Would you prefer if I left?

( he likely doesn't realise that she's there, the sound of the doors opening being missed by the depth of his thoughts, his curse. vanessa could simply have left herself but she's letting him choose -- to have company, a distraction, or solitude )

Re: 003

[resleeves]

[ kovacs doesn't answer right away, too busy shaking his head out and glaring angrily at the stars like it's their fault he's here and that he can't fucking leave.

eventually, he looks over his shoulder at her, shrugs. ]

Doesn't matter to me.

[ he takes the pink backpack off his shoulder and drops it onto the floor, turning to let his back slide down the glass until he was sitting next to it. ]

But I'm not going anywhere.

[possidetur]

( vanessa moved across, walking until she'd reached the glass, sitting down with him. she barely knew him but he had offered her a kindness. kindness begets kindness )

Then we stay together.

( whether it was in silence or with mild conversation. sometimes just the presence of someone else could help enough )

I'd come to think, looking across the stars.

( she'll take his lead on whether to keep talking or be quiet )

001 because i'm a fucking rebel that's why

[donkeyballs]

[ He's trying to bring himself to eat. He really is. And he isn't alone - one of his friends is off making food, and he keeps having to glance over to them to make sure that they're there, before looking back at his own. He should eat, he knows that, he needs to, but--

He gets queasy again and pushes the tray away - just in time to see Kovacs take a seat at the next table with a bright pink backpack.

.. Okay. That was strange. ]

Uh - that yours, hoss, or are you just collectin' kid's supplies, now?

Re: 001 because i'm a fucking rebel that's why

[resleeves]

I stole it from some kid I saw in the hallway.

[ were there kids here? kovacs doesn't know so maybe that means alex doesn't either. he dumps the backpack on the table and tilts towards alex. ]

Jealous?

[ of course he was. everyone was. ]

Next time I'm gonna steal some baby's candy.

3

[rickitikitarr]

Oh, well, that's the sign of a sane and normal person having an ordinary and calm day during which they cope graciously and with equanimity.

[Says Ricki, leaning up against the glass, back to the window, next to where Kovacs has punched.]

Re: 3

[resleeves]

Never said I was sane.

[ he knew he wasn't. hadn't been for a long while. ]

Someone telling you I am is lying.

[ so that was all cleared up. ]

You've never just felt like punching something?

1.

[inwaits]

Oh, good morning.

[ probably an odd greeting given the fact that morning, afternoon, and night meant nothing when in space — she was still used to a pretty stringent schedule, and she was always an early riser. ]

What a cute bag! I wish I was pure enough to capture one of my own. [ a unicorn, she means. ]

Re: 1.

[resleeves]

What?

[ he'd been about to say that his bag wasn't cute but then she started talking about capturing things and he can only stare at her, confusion evident on his face.]

You have to capture fucking backpacks where you come from?

002

[raverie]

[ Knowing this place isn't some kind of mutant prison has put Sonya slightly less on edge. Doesn't erase the need for a drink.

The backpack's what catches her attention first. It's bright, draws focus. Reminds her of home, weirdly. Maybe because it seems so out of place. ]

Are there children here?

[ There's a man sitting at the bar, but no one who looks like the owner of that bag. She can't help herself - it's a concern. Sonya makes her way behind the counter to root through the bottles, then realizes she's being rude. ]

Sorry. Crazy the way social etiquette disappears when you wake up in a space prison. [ Examining the label on a bottle of bourbon before deeming it worthy, she looks up and holds out her hand. ] I'm Sonya.

Re: 002

[resleeves]

[ he doesn't know her face but that doesn't really mean anything, not on this fucking station. considering the tight quarters, there's a lot of fucking people stuffed into it so he hasn't seen everyone yet.]

Yeah. Where do you think I got this backpack?

[ he says it deadpan, as serious as a heart attack, despite it being a lie. just because he hadn't taken this backpack from a child doesn't mean he wouldn't take something from a kid at some point.]

Kovacs.

[ space prison, huh? glad to hear that someone else thought of it that way. it was better than the last prison he'd been in but he still fucking hated it.

after some consideration, he reached out and shook her hand, once and briefly. ]

You just wake up here?

[ lucky girl. ]

003

[subplot]

[Karen's standing nearby, and is taken off guard by his outburst. At first she thinks he's speaking to her and turns her head to glance his way with a look on her face that asks what she's done. But the more she looks at him and the way he's just punched the window, she realizes it's likely more a general show of anger. She recalls her first few days here, and how she had done something similar.]

That sounds like it hurt. Maybe you should try the punching bags in the gym.

Re: 003

[resleeves]

That wouldn't be as fun.

[ the punching bags also weren't as convenient as this very handily placed window. besides, the pain was a nice side effect of being nearby. not very healthy but nice. reminded him that he hadn't died on stronghold.

even if sometimes he wished he had. ]

But, it did hurt.

[ no shame in admitting that. ]

Probably part of the reason I did it.

[ everyone had their issues, okay? this was a big one for him and if there wasn't booze around, blood and broken bones were gonna have to do. ]