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Tweak says, "Oh, Gai-sensei!"

Felix Gaeta (didwhaticould) wrote in marinanova,
@ 2016-08-03 20:46:00

Entry tags:

damon salvatore, felix gaeta, jack harkness, kitty pryde (aoa), martha jones, nico di angelo, yuuki kuran

Day 387 - Open Action
[Around the Dome]

[The worst thing about this prison—besides, obviously, being stuck in a universe without all of his friends and family—is all of the free time. Felix likes working. Loves it, in fact, and the lack of time that he devotes to having fun has made him the butt of any number of jokes on the Sphaira, not that he cares. He's excellent at what he does, and his recent promotion to captain makes all of the crap he gets from his peers worthwhile. Who needs friends when you can have inferiors?

Except he hasn't entirely bought into that and, without work to do and jerks to feel superior to, MarinaNova is getting kind of lonely. He's met a few people, sure, but what he needs to do is get out there and try to have fun. Fun people attract company, and he'd like company.

And so Felix, armed with a camera, spends a good part of the day taking a leisurely stroll through the dome's streets and parks. Wandering around and pausing to snap the occasional photo might not be the kind of madcap adventure that his peers at home might find amusing, but it's different enough from work to make him think that it falls within the realm of fun. As long as he's enjoying himself, it feels like it must count.

And he is enjoying himself. Photography was one of his many hobbies before he devoted himself to science and the Colonial Fleet. He doesn't know if he's any good at it, but there's something satisfying about looking for exciting angles and plays of light and trying to frame things just so. Although Felix focuses on architecture (another interest that fell by the wayside), he does try to get the odd inmate into his shots.]

I'm sorry, but could you hold still for a moment?

[Lyrical]

[Evening—or what passes as evening in an underwater dome where days are delineated by dimming and brightening artificial light—sets and Felix has tasked himself with finding a new kind of fun. This workless wasteland has presented him with an unparalleled opportunity to explore all of the hobbies that he stopped having time for at home. Hobbies like singing.

And that is why he is at Lyrical. Felix has skipped the drinking part of the karaoke bar (he'd like to keep his wits about him while he's enjoying himself) and is going through the selection of songs to find something he knows. Singing in front of strangers is fun, right? Right?

He might need encouragement.]

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	didwhaticould 2016-08-17 08:24 pm UTC (link)
	Jack can add one more strange look to his collection. "You weren't. That's the kind of thing I'd remember." He shrugs, unconcerned, and adds, "It could be worse. Some people I've talked to today don't remember being here at all... at least your memory's more-or-less intact." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

foreverjack
2016-08-20 04:51 pm UTC (link)

...Okay. He pauses a moment to take that in, his mouth twisting ruefully. "I guess I'm going to have to face it, then. It can't seriously be everyone except me who's had something altered. Clearly, the singing is my thing. And possibly also not remembering someone called Adam back home."

Because that might not be just Ianto.

"Yeah, I've met too many people today who didn't know me, or at least didn't remember being here. It's kinda disorienting, you know!"

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	didwhaticould 2016-08-24 11:48 pm UTC (link)
	"I know what you mean. If I have a cubit for everyone I've seen today who didn't recognize me, I'd..." He pauses and frowns. "Well. I wouldn't be rich since I didn't know that many people to begin with, but you know what I mean. "For what it's worth, you being made to think that you sing all the time is the most surreal change I've heard about." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

foreverjack
2016-08-26 04:29 pm UTC (link)

"Yeah. I know what you mean." So far, it's been more of an annoyance than anything else, but it's an annoyance that's started to add up the more people he's met to whom he's had to explain who he is and what their relationship normally is. Or just avoid explaining altogether which doesn't really make things any less awkward.

He grins. "As for surreal, well I do like to try and be extraordinary. It's no fun being the same as everyone else, after all!" He glances towards the stage. "Perhaps I should make the most of it, if I don't normally get to sing so much!"

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	didwhaticould 2016-08-27 10:53 pm UTC (link)
	"I can't imagine that you've ever been in peril of being the same as everyone else," he replies, and there's definitely a flirtatious undercurrent. "You should go for it. I'd like to hear you." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

foreverjack
2016-08-28 06:47 am UTC (link)

"Thank you, that's quite a compliment!" he grins.

"And if you're sure you're willing to indulge me..." He wanders over to the song selector. He's been here quite a few times before; he knows which of his favourites are there. He cues up his absolute favourite with a little bit of a twinkle at Gaeta because it actually refers back rather nicely to that compliment, and then takes the stage. "This one's kind of my signature tune."

A slow start, every word heartfelt, building into a brash, confident showstopper.

I am what I am
I am my own special creation
So come take a look
Give me the hook or the ovation

It's my world that I want to have a little pride in
My world and it's not a place I have to hide in
Life's not worth a damn
'Til you can say I am what I am

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didwhaticould
2016-09-07 01:09 am UTC (link)

Jack's voice is great, but it's his confidence that really sells the song—that and the appropriateness of the lyrics. There's nothing like listening to someone sing something that they can own.

Gaeta applauds enthusiastically (or maybe too politely to be properly enthusiastic, but it's enthusiastic for him) when the song draws to a close. "That's the best I've heard all day. All month, even."

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foreverjack
2016-09-13 03:24 pm UTC (link)

Jack laughs, setting the microphone down and coming back to him - and his beer. He's a little bit out of breath after all that, because he always puts everything he's got into whatever his singing, and especially that song.

"I'll take that as a compliment, since I don't know who else you've been listening to!" he grins, lifting his beer in a toast and taking a long drink. He leans against the bar as he adds reflectively. "I still remember the first time I heard that song. 1983, and Earth society was only just starting to think about being a little less judgemental about people who didn't conform. I knew right from the start it was going to be my song."

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	didwhaticould 2016-09-28 08:26 am UTC (link)
	It's not much of a compliment since karaoke isn't the most popular recreational activity in the prison, but that doesn't make it any less sincere! He shifts closer to Jack at the mention of Earth, elbows resting on the table. "What kinds of nonconformity were judged? What had to be hidden?" (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

foreverjack
2016-10-04 02:49 pm UTC (link)

Well, he'll take it as it was meant!

He gives Gaeta a sideways glance at the question; then realises the man has literally almost no knowledge of Earth history and nods slightly, giving him a bit of a grimace. "More or less everything. In my case, specifically being attracted to men and wanting more than one partner at a time. Apart from that I was lucky to be the favoured colour and gender and able to pay lip service to the prevalent religion, since I don't subscribe to any myself. Others weren't so lucky."

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didwhaticould
2016-10-04 03:24 pm UTC (link)

Up until recently, he wasn't convinced that Earth was real. Forget about any knowledge of Earth history.

"That sounds worse than even the worst of the Twelve Colonies was," he says sympathetically, a little surprised by how closed-minded Earth seems. Although he'd guessed from a few interactions he's had in the prison that the planet isn't as liberal as most of the Colonies were (Sagittaron excepted, possibly) that's... extreme. "Not that there weren't bigots everywhere, but color and gender were never an issue. I probably shouldn't ask what happened to the unlucky ones, should I?"

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	foreverjack 2016-10-04 03:44 pm UTC (link)
	"It was pretty hellish at times," he nods, taking a long swig of beer as if to wash away the taste of the memory. "And no, you really shouldn't. Obviously a lot depended on the era and the level of society, but being put to death if you didn't conform wasn't off the cards even in quite some civilised places." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	didwhaticould 2016-10-05 10:27 pm UTC (link)
	He contemplates his own drink, turning that information over in his head. It's sobering. Too sobering for the situation at hand, so he tries to lighten the mood. "You know, Earth doesn't sound half as great as the Scrolls make it out to be." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	foreverjack 2016-10-07 11:05 am UTC (link)
	"Yeah, well, every society has its down sides. It wasn't terrible, on the whole, and it got better with every passing decade." And there'd been a lot of decades. He glances at Felix with interest. "What are the Scrolls?" (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	didwhaticould 2016-10-09 12:22 am UTC (link)
	"Almost everything I've heard about it here has been less than rosy." Not that Felix has heard that much. His knowledge of Earth is largely limited to what Kitty's said and her main talking points were the Holocaust and minivans. "Religious texts, scriptures, myths. Prophecy if you're really into pseudoscience. I know Earth has documents like the Scrolls." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

foreverjack
2016-10-13 10:59 am UTC (link)

"Well, we're human. We like to complain - it's a cultural trait!" he grins, taking a swig of his beer.

"Honestly? I've seen too many mythical documents that turned out to be useful not to at least give them a chance these days. Most myths and legends have at least some real hard facts behind them." He lifts an eyebrow, curious. "What did your Scrolls say about Earth?"

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didwhaticould
2016-10-15 12:34 am UTC (link)

"A trait in all human cultures," he agrees, because gods know that the Colonials love complaining too. "Good to know that we're essentially the same no matter what part of the universe we're from." It's comforting in a way.

"Not much, actually. Earth was allegedly the Thirteenth Tribe's destination after they left Kobol. Plenty of people who believe in it think that Earth must be some kind of utopian planet where our advanced cousins live without all of the problems that plague our backwards society."

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	foreverjack 2016-10-16 04:13 pm UTC (link)
	Jack laughs. "Absolutely. Wherever we are, however far from Earth, some things about us never change! I've been to the end of the universe, and we're still the same. Indomitable, surviving - but still complaining about the cold, and the dark, and the coffee!" He lifts a shoulder, wryly. "Funny. They thought they were going to Utopia too." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	didwhaticould 2016-10-17 01:19 am UTC (link)
	"The only thing that surprises me about that is that they have coffee at the end of the universe," Felix says, not quite laughing himself but certainly enjoying the company. His tone becomes more solemn. "There's another human trait: we always think we'll find Utopia somewhere else. In another time, on the next planet, in the next life..." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	foreverjack 2016-10-18 06:32 pm UTC (link)
	"It was pretty foul coffee," he shrugs, as if that might help ameliorate the surprise of it being there at all. And then he nods, smiling ruefully. "Always. Never content to live in the here and now, making the most of what we have. We always want more." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	didwhaticould 2016-10-19 12:00 am UTC (link)
	"So noted. If I ever make it out there, I'll bring my own." He's joking, but it does occur to him that there's every possibility that Jack was being entirely literal when he said that he'd been to the end of the universe. Right now, he's fine with not knowing if that's the case. "What about you, Jack?" he asks. "Are you chasing after something?" (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

foreverjack
2016-10-20 03:18 am UTC (link)

He grins around the neck of his beer bottle, taking a drink. He's presenting the story in his usual ambiguous way, but it is a true one.

His grin morphs into a surprisingly contented smile as he puts the beer down again. "I was," he admits wistfully. "But then I was brought here, and what I'd lost was brought here too on the very same day. Ianto. He'd died, back home. But here, they took him from a few months earlier and so I get a second chance. And it's more than I could ever have imagined."

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	didwhaticould 2016-10-20 09:35 pm UTC (link)
	"Good for you--both of you," he replies with the utmost sincerity, absently tracing circles in the condensation forming on the outside of his drink. Now that his initial post-karaoke embarrassment has faded away, he's more interested in the conversation than drinking. "Whoever's pulling the strings here must be a hopeless romantic." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	foreverjack 2016-10-21 04:21 pm UTC (link)
	"It does seem that way, doesn't it?" he considers, head on one side. "The enforced monogamy, the mistletoe bots, the way they keep tricking us into new relationships..." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	didwhaticould 2016-10-21 04:31 pm UTC (link)
	"I don't know if it's trickery so much as... gentle encouragement." He smiles, absolutely thinking about Martha and the pleasure prison. That hadn't felt like it was due to any meddling from an outside party. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

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