towerofanimus | [OPEN] How much of it's genetics? How much of it is fate?

Entry tags:

[OPEN] How much of it's genetics? How much of it is fate?

Characters: jade!Eridan & YOU!
Setting: Workshop
Format: Starting with action, but I'll match you.
Summary: Eridan emerges from his self-imposed exile for a while to clean his rifles.
Warnings: Eridan's deadpan. Potential violence if he gets pissed; lots and lots of rifles. Gamzee. Gory, ironic death via Gamzee. Goddammit, Gamzee.

[He started off with one. And then he doomed himself a few times. And well. It wasn't like he could just let them go to waste, when they started piling up.

Laser rifles need a different type of maintenance than the usual kind, but it's still maintenance in the end.

So there's a sullen troll, half hidden behind a pile of guns, carefully cleaning one by one. It's a methodical and repetitive process, but it's not like Eridan seems to mind too terribly. He's just minding his business, but hey. Maybe if you ask very nicely, he'll give you one.

Maybe.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

A little bit 'a both?

[He shrugs at her, not quite returning the smile. He doesn't smile much, to be honest.]

I mean, I made them, 'cause I alchemized the original, but alchemizing things and actually making them are different things. I dunno if I could make one from scratch, but I'm good at making repairs.

Hmm, that's impressive nonethless. What was the original?

[She gestures to one as if to pick it up.]

Do you mind?

A little, but go ahead.

[He does tense somewhat, even as he nods at her. Then again, she's being polite and he knows hands on are necessarily to really inspect the rifle.]

Mm, I started alchemizing from my favorite repeating rifle, but along the way I had to mix in some semi-automatic ones and a bunch of other stuff to get it to pack a good punch. When I got the laser one, the continuous beam-shot was annoying as shit, so I mixed it with a bolt action one to give it more control. They're pretty sturdy, all things considered, but it can be a little temperamental if you don't know how to handle it properly.

[She nods, taking one to look it over.]

Repeating rifles are the most refined choice, it's the only choice for any enthusiast. But in practical use, semi-automatics are the way to go.

A laser, though, that certainly doesn't exist where I'm from [giggle]. Do they come in the same forms as the regular sort?

I like repeating rifles because they're more precise and you have better control, plus the balance between kick-back and weight is a lot less tiresome. Semi-automatics are nice too, I suppose, but I'm fussy about ammo and maintenance tends to be a lot more time consuming.

[He shrugs. Don't get him talking about guns, okay, this kid will never shut up.]

They were pretty expensive, so I reckon only highbloods could get their hands on them. I sort of cheated with the alchemizing system to get one.

Well, they don't make anything quite the way they used to. All those old fashioned repeating rifles are built to handle the heat and dust of the American desert, once you get too high-tech, it might be more sturdy over all, but forget about doing any maintenance. I know exactly what you mean. What kind of mechanism do you prefer? The bolt action?

[It's okay, she needs a chance to talk about guns every once in a while. She just wishes she had her collection in the tower. Getting stuck with just one that's not even her own is pretty sad.]

That's lucky, you certainly put a lot of work into it, I'm impressed.

[They can talk guns forever and ever. Though Eridan does look suddenly a little flustered about this, given the compliments. What are compliments. What.]

...ah. I. Thank you.

[He fidgets a little, shrinking somewhat.]

[She laughs, placing the gun back on the pile.]

Don't be embarrassed, it shows a great understanding to combine so many types to outweigh the negative aspects with the positive. I could be wrong, but you look fairly young, that's all the more impressive. You must be quite dedicated.

[He shrugs a little.]

It's a useful skill.

[...or in his case, it's more of a either-you-know-it-or-the-hordes-of-the-undead-will-kill-you kind of skill.]

I can imagine. Now, around here, how do you get around the trouble of ammunition? I hope it's not that a laser rifle is unlimited, for my sake.

It kinda is.

[He looks genuinely sorry he can't help her.]

I requested this one precisely because getting around the ammunition thing was going to be a pain otherwise.

I thought so...ah, well, I'll figure something out.

[She shrugs and sighs. It was worth a shot, anyway.]

I imagine you get some good target practice around here with all the monsters.

[He bites the inside of his lip a little, then shrugs.]

Things can get pretty hectic, yeah. Have you been here long?

No, it's been around half a week. Who else would come right up to you like this, right? Only a strange woman who's new.

[He shrugs.]

...it's not like that. I just haven't been around for a while.

[He shrinks again.]

And it's not like I know everyone or anything. But most people around here tend to be pretty friendly.

Oh? That's a relief.

[But that first part strikes her as much more important.]

...Did you go home, then?

[And now he looks distinctly uncomfortable.]

...for a while. Sometimes they send you there.

[He shrugs again.]

Not that everyone agrees it's really home, though.

[She notes that, trying to press the subject lightly.]

And you? If it's anything like on those video screens, then I'm sure it isn't. If that worried you, then you shouldn't worry.

[He smiles, fangs peeking under his lip, and expressing wholly too cynical for what appears to be a teenager.]

My world was well and truly fucked before I ever got here. So it doesn't really make much of a difference to me, either way.

[He snorts.]

It's just not somewhere I enjoy visiting.

[Giggle] Oh, well, in that case. As I see it, most of them are, it's only the severity and obviousness that changes.

It's really just a matter of tense.

[He shrugs again.]

Between a world ending and the world ended.

[Excuse him and his time puns, it's a bit of a chronic thing. /badum tiss]

[/laugh tracks]

You're certainly right about that, it can make all the difference. I can't imagine a world worse than this if everything I hear is true, but, I'll certainly believe it.

[Thank you, thank you, I will be here all week.]

Worse is relative. Some people actually like this place, compared to their own world.

That's exactly what's astonishing to me.

[She shrugs.]

Then again, it's all a matter of perspective.

You get used to it, trust me.

[His tone kind of implies that's not a good thing, though.]

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