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

[chronomancer]

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.]

Comments

[geometry]

[Ahaha, just try to brush his hair, Eridan. Just try.]

[No, really. Try. Please. He doesn't do it for himself.]

[Not being able to flee from an undesirable situation? Unthinkable. In Equius' experience, there's almost always some way to flee -- and if there's not, then sitting in a corner and blocking out all physical and mental stimulus while whimpering like a stupid little grub works just as well.]

[He actually snorts in amusement at the flamethrower analogy.] I guess that's true. I'm tempted to say otherwise... because, well, I spent far too much time working on the combat engine of Sgrub...

[...and he may or may not still think of some enemies in terms of hit points.]

[chronomancer]

[Stop giving him excuses to put his hands on you. Except, no, please don't stop. Ever.]

You know, one day I'll sit you down and have you explain how that worked, because I royally lost track of that by the third stable loop I made.

[He snorts.]

[geometry]

[Literally any excuse is fine by the narrative. Just please tame it. Please.]

How it worked? Uh... not easily would be the best answer, I think.

[chronomancer]

[Eridan grins wryly.]

Heh. I think that's a good answer for anything SGRUB related.

[he picks up a long plastic rod and wraps it with a rag.]

Here, after clearing out the bolt action so nothing's stuck in there, you want to clean out the barrel. Just be careful not to scratch it and it'll be alright. See?

[This is in no way suggestive or otherwise inappropriate, it's just Eridan lovingly shoving the rod inside the barrel and then pulling back repeatedly to wipe it clean. Right.]

[geometry]

Mhm.

[Equius watches as Eridan continues to clean the gun, only making a little bit of a face. And then it turns into a kind of big face, because guess what? That's actually really awkward.]

[He'll get over it once he starts cleaning these himself, obviously. Eridan did, right?]

[chronomancer]

[Oblivious to the implications, Eridan removes the rod and the rag and raises it to peer at the inside.]

Seriously, be careful when you do that. Scratching the inside of the barrel in a normal rifle affects accuracy, but scratches in these do end up in explosions if they're deep enough. So make sure to be real gentle with them.

[Given that Equius is staring and not actually doing it, Eridan tilts his head to the side.]

Need a hand?

[geometry]

--What?

[Oh. Whoops. He blinks a couple of times and stares straight at Eridan, and then down at the rifle.]

No. Uh. I'm fine. Thanks.

[Should probably... get to doing that now.]

[Where the fuck did that even COME from, he doesn't even think like that most of the time]

[chronomancer]

[Is that a blush he spies on your face, Equius? Because he's just confused. Either way, he offers both rod and rag for Equius to try.]

Here, then.

[Another pause and another look at Equius face.]

Real gentle, alright?

[geometry]

[No, no blush. Definitely not a blush. None.]

[...It's just the cold.]

Thanks.

[He commences wiping it down, as carefully and gently as possible. His eyes are evenly divided between the gun and Eridan, monitoring his face for any change -- though of course he does no wiping while not looking at the weapon itself. That's just a really easy way to blow someone's leg off.]

[chronomancer]

Mmmhmm.

[Eridan takes a moment to watch Equius work, apparently without the problems the yellowblood had with watching someone... perform.]

[geometry]

[After a seemingly endless session of glancing between the two of them in case he does something horribly wrong, Equius takes a deep breath and hands the rifle carefully back to Eridan.]

Is that alright?

[chronomancer]

Let's see.

[Looking at it carefully, before nodding.]

Yeah, that looks perfect, good job.

[geometry]

...Really?

[He sounds genuinely surprised.]

[chronomancer]

Really.

[He smiles.]

See? You didn't scratch it.

[geometry]

Oh.

Well, good.

I'm glad I didn't... ruin it or anything.

[Or get too distracted. It's even worse doing it yourself.]

[chronomancer]

I'm glad you didn't either!

[Then he colors.]

I mean. It's not a big deal if you had, I mean. You're just learning and all. It happens. It's just that if you scratch the barrel I have to dispose of it because it's not safe for use anymore. That's all. Yeah. Uh.

[Awkward.]

[geometry]

Well, yeah, obviously. Guns, you... really can't just let them lie around. Especially energy-based ones like these. Yeah.

[Guess who found that one out the hard way.]

...I mean, I would say there's plenty more where that one came from if I did break it. But.

[Oh, was a sensible conversation a thing that was supposed to happen in this thread? Whoops, sorry about that, we just need to inject a bit more awkward before the next checkpoint.]

[chronomancer]

Ye-yeah.

[Awkward, you say. Let Eridan scratch the back of his neck at the "plenty more where that one came from" bit, because yeah. Sob. Story of his life.]

But hey, this is a good sign, right? That you're getting this stuff real well real quick.

[geometry]

Well, you know, the principle is pretty much the same between a laser rifle and a laser cannon... it's not so much that I'm learning quickly as I knew some of this beforehand...

[chronomancer]

[Eridan gives Equius a frustrated, fond smile and shakes his head. ONE DAY, YOU'LL JUST TAKE THE COMPLIMENT. ONE DAY.]

Then you're good at adapting knowledge.

[He reaches a hand to pat Equius arm.]

So the actual shooting shouldn't be so hard.

[geometry]

[YES, ONE DAY. BUT NOT ONE DAY SOON.]

...I guess.

It's just like learning anything else...

[chronomancer]

Pretty much.

[He smiles.]

It's all in the technique. So it's all about practice and patience.

[geometry]

...Practice and patience. Right.

[And not accidentally shooting anyone's limb off. That's important.]

[chronomancer]

[It's okay, those grow back, around here. He'd know.]

Mhm. Anyway, after you're done cleaning them, all you have to do is put them back together.

[Like so.]

And that's it.

[geometry]

[That's it? Hmm. Okay.]

I... I can remember that.

Thanks.