[station 72] mental link

[headinjuries]

you're never alone, no matter how dark it gets.	they say space goes on forever, right? doesn't it have to end eventually?
where's your sense of adventure?	i am so freaking pent up all the time...i could just burst!

( CODE BY WHAMBAM )

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day :025

[adamance]

( When would you like to begin training? )

[She had said that they needed to focus on the mission at hand. Approaching the matter while they were leaving the scene would have been ... tactless, even for her.

So, this is better.]

[headinjuries]

( When do you have time? )

[ Not much sense in putting it off, and the bombing was definitely an uncomfortable reminder that he doesn't have much but balls of steel to fall back on when he can't be Nova. ]

[adamance]

( My schedules are flexible. ) [Especially since Angel is asleep, and she's Lexa's other major concern in terms of training.] ( We can begin early in the day and get it over with, or later just before we rest for the night. )

[headinjuries]

( Uhhh. Let's go with later, I guess? )

[ Wearing himself out before bed sounds like a good plan. Especially if it leaves him too tired to dream. ]

[adamance]

( I'll find you in the evening, then. When we return to the Station, I'll want a demonstration of your abilities as ... "Nova" so that we can employ that in your training. )

[While the Bearings are private, she doesn't really think they're anymore equipped for his abilities than they are her symbiote ones.]

DAY :32

[onemind]

[A message pings in Sam's extranet inbox from Floran, Adetkunbo's assistant. It reads:]

Cheers! I told you I wouldn't let Kun forget about his promise. We've organized for you and your friend to have a meeting with Kun and Miss Frey tomorrow afternoon. We'll send a car over to your residence at 1100. Don't eat a big breakfast!

Hugs!,
Floran Madish

[As promised, the following day a black car arrives at Bearings. Floran herself is in the backseat, an android behind the wheel.]

[headinjuries]

[ Is she expecting a response? It seems like the kind of message that doesn't need one, but hey, he's pretty sure he can picture what his mom would say if he just closed the window and went about his business.

Samuel Alejandro, did I raise the kind of boy who can't even say thank you for a favor?!

Yeah. Better say something. ]

Thanks! We really appreciate it.

Is Callix doing okay?

[onemind]

[Oh her goddess, isn't he just darling? After a long, long interval - managing a popular-ish athlete involves a lot of extranet mail -, an answer pings back:]

Don't worry about it. The big lug's perfectly all right.

-f

[headinjuries]

Oh, good. Tell him hi for me.

When you've got time, I mean.

[erbier]

( How are you handling Kylo Ren. )

[ She can see him, hear him, knows what he thinks he's doing. ]

[headinjuries]

( Every now and then he says something useful and the rest of the time I tell him that his manners suck. )

[erbier]

( What do you mean? )

[ Not that he's rude, she knows that, merely looking for examples. ]

[headinjuries]

( About the useful stuff or about telling him his manners suck? )

Day 36

[greentech]

( What are you doing for her? )

[ Mental flash of Mara Jade looking oh-so-superior. ]

[headinjuries]

[ On one hand, Mara clearly wanted to keep this on the downlow; on the other hand, Sam's not exactly stupid enough to think that he's going to be able to keep secrets from his brood that easily. ]

( Running interference. )

[greentech]

( Interference for what? )

[ Her first encounter with Mara was not positive. Pidge does not like her. ]

[headinjuries]

( She's doing some, uh, fact-finding? )

Day 40: morning

[vocalis]

[ After using Scrap the night before, Aoba's woken up with a massive headache. He probably should've come to see Sam sooner. When he calls out his reach his clumsy, fumbling through a haze of pain. ]

Hey, Sam...?

[ He tries his best to contain it, but some of that pain leaks over the connection. Sorry, Sam. ]

[headinjuries]

[ Wow.

Ow.

Sam's had plenty of headaches trying to get a grip on his symbiote's power, but that one can't be his. He just woke up; he hasn't had time to start trying to pick apart anybody's lies yet?

Even as he answers, he's pulling his pillow on top of his head because oh my God, turn off the sun. ]

( Wha? )

[vocalis]

[ That... that doesn't sound like Sam's voice answering back in his head. That sounds like... Sam... ?

Other Sam. Oh.

The frequency of Aoba's connection halts like someone just pressed a real life pause button on him. It doesn't stop the headache that's already spread over the connection, though. Too late for that. ]

Damnit... wrong Sam. I'm... I'm so sorry. Please forgive me, I'm sorry-

[ Too late to stop the shame train either. Guilt floods over before he tries to close the connection again. He's genuinely sorry, but it's repetitive with an ingrained need to be extremely guilty for the stupid mistake he's just made. ]

[headinjuries]

[ Ow. So it's not his headache and it's not even a headache he needed to inherit? Ugh.

On the other hand, somewhere in the back of his mind it's just occurred to him that this proves a weird point that he never really considered. ]

( So it's possible to like...mentally butt-dial? )

[ He wouldn't have thought so, but he never thought about it very hard, either... ]

Day 48: late night

[sizeofyourbaggage]

[ There's a spike of distress that surges through the brood connection at way too late o’clock, tangled up in fear and a sense of emptiness similar to when Bucky fell into a coma, not as encompassing but sharper. It’s intense, but brief, and then Sam forcibly severs the connection, pulling back as best as he can. ]

[headinjuries]

[ He was still only halfway to falling asleep, but that? That definitely woke up right back up.

It takes a moment for Sam to untangle what's definitely him from what definitely isn't, but he waits until he's got that under control before he tries to reach back. ]

( Hey. What happened? )

[sizeofyourbaggage]

[ The moment is appreciated, because it helps Sam get back under control, too. When he makes contact again, his side of the connection is muted, and there's a faint note of apology. ]

( Clint's out of commission, like Barnes. Giorno, too. )

[ But Giorno's feels different in a way he hasn't quite placed yet. It's setting him a little on edge. ]

[headinjuries]

( Oh. )

[ Well, fuck.

That definitely illuminates things a bit, though - that weird sense of wrongness on the edge of his thoughts that he's been trying valiantly to pretend isn't buzzing. ]