OPEN POST

[goddamngrenades]

Smut, Gen, Angst, Fluff, Anything, Everything.
PFL era, Post war, Pre Canon, AU, ETC,
Full starter or pic prompt, drop it like it's hot
Brackets or Prose whatever you're comfortable with
Tag and go!

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[goddamngrenades]

"Uh..." The hologram flickers again, amusement twisting to curiosity. "I don't know? I haven't really thought about it. I'm like. Five days old if that. Probably less? Telling time is hard in storage."

Which means thinking about where he came from or how he got here and why he has a state designation instead of a Greek letter and- curiosity tangles, snarls, twists into anxiety that he quickly locks down in favor of a dick joke. "Fleshy bits all look the same to me."

[notyourrookie]

He can feel that too, a warm curl of curiosity that makes him want to know everything. He'd kind of figured he'd be the last to get an Ai so maybe he hadn't paid as much attention as he should in class. "I'm- not sure how to feel about that." He knows Ais aren't like people, but five days old is very young and is there going to be a creep factor when he has ah... personal time in his bunk?

[goddamngrenades]

"Ok- no dude. There's a bro code. I don't know much but I know that personal time is, you know, personal, and I'm not gonna be anywhere near your neural lace when you're doing that." There's a brief shudder that may or may not be mortification or revulsion or-

Whatever doesn't matter MOVING ON.

"Tell me to retire and I'll just curl up in my chip and play Sudoku or something."

[notyourrookie]

"Alright. That's workable." He doesn't want to feel like someone is watching him, but Christ he's in his twenties. There's no way he can give up jerking off. Boot camp had been torture.

"That doesn't sound very fun. Wouldn't you need super complicated ones?"

[goddamngrenades]

"I run 42 games simultaneously in an interconnected fractal pattern." A beat. "You know, kid stuff."

[notyourrookie]

"Wow. Now I feel inadequate." He has trouble doing a normal sudoku.

[goddamngrenades]

"My brain is a computer, I'm supposed to be good with numbers and shit. I'm a Digital American. It's kind of my thing. You, now-" Uh, shit, what's he good at? York scans through a history of training videos in .025 seconds. "are one of the best mid range combatants in the project."

[notyourrookie]

"You've never been to America," Wash points out. "Neither have I." Hasn't been to Earth for that matter. Maybe he should go if he survives the war. If Earth survives the war.

He flushes a little with pride at that. His place on the leaderboard has held steady for months, and the others still seem to think he's the rookie who isn't good enough.

[goddamngrenades]

"Sure I have." Wait- no. No he hasn't. "It's in the blood. The. Code."

He shouldn't have blood, he's all code. Right? Right. But there's this odd twist of wistfulness, an ache for deep fried oreos that blindides him enough to stutter out for half a second before blipping back where he should be. Supporting his dude.

His number one guy. "Fuck yeah you're awesome. WE are awesome, and we're gonna climb that leaderboard."

[notyourrookie]

"I- I don't think code works like that?" But what does he know? He is a soldier not a scientist. AI theory is so far beyond him it's painful.

He finds himself licking his lips at the sudden craving for candy, crunchy cookies, a heart attack on a plate. Which is something he is not going to get until shore leave considering the restrictions of their diets here.

"Yeah, I can't wait to give Carolina more excuses to kick my ass. Or make South hate me."

[goddamngrenades]

"Don't engage her in hand to hand- and don't engage South period." Easiest way ever. But he does flip through memories of past failures to land a hit and the on board data archive to start compiling a list of things they could work on.

Ways to improve.

[notyourrookie]

"I can't avoid Carolina forever. And by existing I am risking South being pissed off at me," he said. She could be fun, sure, but just recently, since the leaderboard had gone up, she'd been getting angrier. It was a little worrying.

[goddamngrenades]

"We'll work on your short game. Interpersonal relations aren't really my bag but I'll see if I can swing anything on the South front." Hehe, the southern front. "T minus 1 till the mess opens- looks like Maine's already waiting for his honeycrisp hookup."

[notyourrookie]

"They shoved a bunch of very... strong personalities into a top secret military program together. Interpersonal relations are not any of our strong points," Wash grumbles. They're all assholes. The chain of command is loose at best.

He looks up when York mentions that, and sure enough, Maine is already there. He waves at him and reaches up to take off his helmet as he approaches.

[goddamngrenades]

"So you want me to hang around or...?" The hologram flickers a bit as York stretches (in so much that he needs to), head tipping in Maine's direction.

[notyourrookie]

"Sure. I don't mind," Wash agrees. The AIs aren't supposed to talk to each other, but they're allowed to talk to other Freelancers.

[goddamngrenades]

"Sup Maine." York waves from where he's hovering and, uh. Woah. York's voice blips from external to internal, making an idle comment. "...Don't engage in hand to hand with this one either. He'd break us. Wait till I figure some stuff out."

[notyourrookie]

Maine grunts his greeting, which at least Wash recognises as friendly, even if other people tend not to.

"Maine hasn't broken me yet. Mind, we don't usually go all out because yeah, he hits hard."

[goddamngrenades]

"You get paired up often? Cuz there's no reason for you to not clear a room if you're working in tandem." It'd be the most effective pairing aside from the twins, maybe.

[notyourrookie]

"We work together a fair bit, yeah." They work together well. They get on better than Maine gets on with most people too.

[goddamngrenades]

"Noted. I'll observe the archives- aand here you go, fresh fruit. Oh sweet, bananas. What do those taste like?" He feels like he might have an objective idea.

[notyourrookie]

It was real! Fresh fruit. Wash started picking bits up creating a wobbly pyramid on his plate and starting to think of places he could hide it to get it back to his room. Maine was doing the same. Maybe the others didn't care that much and could subsist on tinned stuff, but Wash needed this.

He sat down eventually, and picked up the banana, having to resist stuffing it all into his face at once.

[goddamngrenades]

"Apples will last the longest, oranges second longest." Being useful, yay! Banana-

also yay but squint, but yay. "I don't think you can deep throat a banana, dude."

[notyourrookie]

"Good to know," Wash replies. He can stash the apples and oranges then, and eat the rest over the next couple of days.

He nearly chokes on the banana when York says that. Out loud. He scowls at the hologram. "C'mon. Don't say stuff like that. In public."

[goddamngrenades]

"Woah- hey!" The hologram slides from over York's shoulder to stand on the table, head cocked to the side. "You were seriously considering the logistics of putting that whole thing in your mouth- I was just saying I don't think your gag reflex can manage."