[DRP] Conversation (Jack + Chel)

[chiickadee]

Lab Rats

"Uh. Chelsea Craft. Death division full hunter ... Jack s'really necessary? S'the ********' two of us." Chel crossed her arms from the little stool she'd placed herself on.

The lab space felt like a bit of a joke really. A console that was normally manned by at least 3 people for study was now covered only by Jack, and an observation room meant for a handful of students only had her, on a tiny wooden stool. They hadn't meant to book a labspace so big, it just sort of happened that way and it ended up being kind of humorous. Either way, the extraneous space gave them room in case the artifact acted up. Chel was admittedly a little grateful too; she didn't do well in tiny observation rooms.

She played with the end of the straps on the armor, now outfitted with angry red runes ("Put hot rod flames on it too," she'd told them. They'd denied). They were even nice enough to give her a scale armor sleeve so that the artifact wouldn't sit on her shoulder in an uncomfortable way. Surprisingly thoughtful of labrats.

medigel

 

[medigel]

Lab Rats

It wasn't very often that an entire lab was booked for something so small--and that was what artifacts were to Jack, who had had no formal experience with the things before now: small, curious objects blessed with unknown power. He felt a subtle thrum of curious excitement pulse through him when he saw the newly crafted artifact, now no longer ancient junk but an actually respectable-looking piece of armor.

"Remind me, what's this piece called again?" Jack asked as he started to fill in Chel's name and information on the form. He must have looked like a walking stereotype: a tall Asian man with glasses studiously writing something down on a clipboard. "Has anything happened since you got it back?"
 

[chiickadee]

Lab Rats

"They callin' it Agyo's ... somethin' I forget." She waved a hand, not thinking it important and probably annoying Jack more.

As for things that had happened- "Mm, fell asleep for a bit, ******** a hot guy, took a shower with the same guy, made some food ..."  

[medigel]

Lab Rats

"I'd really prefer it if you could remember the whole name for this," Jack nagged right on cue as he wrote down Agyo's and left the rest blank for later. "What I meant was supernaturally, not the day to day itinerary. Have you noticed any secondary effects since receiving the artifact?" He looked up to explain to Chel. "There are different categories of artifacts denoted by passive and active powers. We'll need to note if one or both manifest while testing."

The only way one would have known they were dating at all as opposed to just setting up an appointment was that Chel hadn't been insulted thus far.
 

[chiickadee]

Lab Rats

"Nope," she said to all of the above. No effects, no powers, nothing. Just the vague awareness that an artifact was present. "I dunno, my scale doesn't really do anythin' 'til I'm fighting people and even then s'really ********' random." She shrugged. "Maybe it's just cool armor."

Looking up at Jack scribbling on a clipboard was making her more than anxious; it was making her remember. If she was more brusque than usual it was because she was trying to avoid a clinical scenario.

She brushed her bangs out of her face and tugged at the belt across her chest again. It was going to take some getting used to. "Didn't wanna fight anyone with 'fore we knew what the ******** it did though."  

[medigel]

Lab Rats

"Right, right..." Unaware of her discomfort, he filled out the rest of what he could for the report. "I forgot you had the scale, too...We should find me something some time," Jack added with a half smile. "I'm starting to get a little envious."

Gesturing for Chel to follow, he led her to the designated space for artifact testing, (the sparse equipment in this area alone would have hurt someone's wallet if anything broke or was damaged), a room not unlike a study cubicle in a library, with several sturdy dummies and a pane of runic-reinforced glass for those observing. He realized only then as he opened the door what that might remind her of.

"I can stay inside," he offered with a glance. "I don't see how an artifact like that would be dangerous."  

[chiickadee]

Lab Rats

"Y'don't need all the extra gadgets," she assured him. "You got Owain."

She stood up off her stool and followed him, picking at the end of her hair and fidgeting more as they approached. She kept her eyes down, her jaw set.

< It's just a room. It's hardly worth your sniveling. >

Of course Tenebrae would take his time with the discomfort, ebbing it until it really bothered her. When Jack offered, she only said, "F'you want. S'whatever."

She put her hands in her pocket and filed into the room whether or not Jack was in there with her. "What d'you- What should I do first?"  

[medigel]

Lab Rats

"He'd like me to pass on the reminder that he loves you dearly and that you're a excellent specimen of hunter-being," Jack replied with an amused scoff.

He watched her move past and followed after without a moment to consider the decision. Jack could only imagine how her weapon was treating her apprehension, and he wasn't comfortable putting glass between them again still. Chel was given some distance, but at least she wouldn't be alone in there.

"Let's start with you attacking the dummies," he suggested. "See if anything triggers it."  

[chiickadee]

Lab Rats

Chel made a face at loves you dearly, because even if it was Owain it was cheesy and gross.

---

Tests came and went with few results, as expected. She attacked the dummies for a good hour or so, and the most she could say was that it had been a good work out. She'd tried having Jack hit the artifact a few times too, seeing if perhaps it was a defense mechanism, which it wasn't. Breaking her FEAR shield didn't seem to have an effect either, save for the unpleasant sensation of having Jack hit her until it broke.

It didn't respond to an influx of FEAR (Chel had to take a short nap after that because the paranoia that settled in after being exposed to even a slight degree more FEAR was unsafe and they probably shouldn't have done it in the first place) and it gave no response to temperature changes in the room.

All in all they had succinctly proven that the armor was, in fact, just a piece of armor it seemed. Chel took all of the artifact tests with a good attitude, occasionally snarking Jack or making demands of him (Yer gonna pay for this Jack I ********' swear to GOD-) but never really complaining or letting on that it was tiring her out beyond the one request for a nap and a single lunch break. She complained a lot when it came to tasks she didn't want to do, but now she knew that Jack was taking the time to help her with something he didn't have to and that left her feeling rather meek. Still Chel, but at least trying.

By the end she had taken to the floor, back against one of the walls and a sleepy expression. "What's next?" she asked him, pulling her water bottle and drinking some from it before wiping her mouth with her forearm and looking up at him. "You think it might have somethin' to do with like- I dunno. Water or fire or some s**t? Bet we could find a hunter with a fire fear to torch it ..."  

[medigel]

Lab Rats

He had to strike a balance between being thorough and considering Chel's wellbeing. Sometimes it meant pushing her, though, and while her snark didn't rise above her usual attitude about being ordered around, Jack knew that this had to be wearing her down—especially when she requested a nap.

"Mm..." Grabbing his water bottle, he settled down next to her and sighed through his nose. A headache had developed during the process and refused to go away, making it hard to think. "I think we've done enough for today," he said as he rested his head back against the wall. "God ******** damn...I wouldn't mind setting this piece of s**t on fire at all."

Turning his head to her, he gently elbowed Chel's arm. "How about I cook tonight? Perfected the chicken parm at last, I think."  

[chiickadee]

Lab Rats

"Chicken parm's s**t with a headache," she taunted, putting a finger on his forehead and pushing lightly. She knew by the face he was making; it was easy to tell. "I can make tuna or somethin'- s'usually good for that."

She closed her eyes for a moment said, "Really, I can keep going f'we need to. Just need a break." But she wrapped her arm under his the same way she did when they walked. Not particularly cuddly, but always needing to touch somehow. After a thoughtful pause she added, "Could wear that little apron 'n everythin'." It was unclear if she meant herself or him.  

[medigel]

Lab Rats

"Nah. ******** that thing for today," Jack grumbled, wrinkling his face more when she poked it. "We'll come back to it tomorrow."

Lazily he let himself lean to the side until the artifact poked his shoulder. "Could wear that little apron and nothing," he countered with a leery smile.  

[chiickadee]

Lab Rats

Chel met his lean with her side to support him. He was saying something, but Chel's mind was preoccupied elsewhere. She wished she was back in bed or off duty or even off island; somewhere where she didn't have to spend a day exhausting herself with a stupid artifact.

It was a small, very subtle feeling that took far less priority than her desire to master the artifact, but Agyo's mantle responded to it nonetheless. It glowed very faintly for a moment, so softly that Chel didn't even notice it.  

[chiickadee]

Transported Elsewhere

One moment Chel had been thinking up something equally perverse to say, the next she found herself in a blueish dream state. It happened as quickly as Merlin's teleports had been, just one blink and gone.

The place itself was hard to decipher. It seemed like a riverbank beside a body of water like a lake or a pond, but then at other moments it didn't. Details were fuzzy at best, the same way it was when one dreamed. Even sounds seemed muffled, foggy and distant. The only things that appeared concrete was her own body and the body next to hers.

She was stunned into silence for a few moments, jarred and tense on Jack's arms while the adjustment took place.

Her second reaction was fear. She was not supposed to teleport anymore.

"Jack?" she asked, because it seemed the only comment she could make on the situation right now. She had never been blinked with another person after all; if Jack was real, then maybe this wasn't Merlin's doing.

She hoped to god it wasn't Merlin's doing.  

[medigel]

Transported Elsewhere

The change was so abrupt that for a moment he couldn't register exactly what had happened. Trading Deus' stark white walls for something twilit gave him almost a reverse sort of blindness as his eyes struggled to decipher the blurry landscape. Nothing seemed to work: it reminded him of the dream where the being that wore Clarice's body had visited him, unfocused at the edges with spotty clarity.

With a voice calling his name, he realized with a small jolt that he wasn't alone. The body next to him felt so foreign and yet so familiar in the world of abstracts that he didn't know whether he wanted to lean in or pull away. "Yeah?" Jack replied with a note of hesitation himself, glancing to the side. Pink hair, not shifting. Not a memory. He turned his head and found it relieving to see she was a solid here. "This familiar to you?"

Because it was slowly seeping in, thanks to the fear he could almost taste now, that maybe Merlin did have them both now. But that was irrational. He had no personal ties. He couldn't have...