gipsy_danger | for striker

((starting here))

True to her word, Gipsy waits.

Of course, she can't do much other than that -- she's fairly constrained by previous injuries, and though her arm has been reattached and repaired she still can't quite walk on her own. This, Gipsy makes abundantly clear in beeps and grumbles, but it's mostly ignored because there's nothing they can do about it quite yet. Progress is being made, but it's not nearly fast enough for her satisfaction.

It's why she's grumpy as hell when he comes the next day; beeps decidedly irritated and far too loud for someone that had been drifting solo with a jaeger the previous day.

(( other conclusions Here. ))

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

striker_eureka

Yeah, I was never really good at that.

He smiles a lot when he's in Gipsy. He'll look back at that later and realize it's significant, but right now he just enjoys it.

I'll try not to drop crumbs on you when I eat lunch on your shoulder.

From:

gipsy_danger

She enjoys feeling that smile, even if she can't 'see' it. Oh, what it would be like to look entirely through his eyes.

I would appreciate that effort. They itch.

It's impossible to tell if she's joking or not.

From:

striker_eureka

Well, we can't have that, can we?

He's already thinking of what he can do with her tomorrow, even if she won't let him drift. Maybe he can bring some music, give her something else to focus on that isn't her repairs.

From:

gipsy_danger

Not at all. Goodbye, Hercules Hansen.

She's gently nudging him out of the drift herself -- pushy thing. Wonder where she gets it from.

From:

striker_eureka

Okay, okay. Bye, Gipsy.

He lets her end the neural handshake, even if he's a little disappointed to see her go.

Unhooking himself takes a little time, but pretty soon he's climbing out of her helmet. "I'll see you tomorrow, love," he says as he emerges from the cockpit, patting her helmet fondly before heading off to the gangway above her.

From:

gipsy_danger

He can't possibly be nearly as disappointed as her -- though she supposed it was possible.

Hardly likely.

She waits for him the next day chirping quietly at his approach. She won't let him link with her, but his presence is a comfort.

From:

striker_eureka

Well, he enjoyed her company, was that so wrong? He wanted to keep spending time with her.

Which is exactly why he convinces the cooks in the mess to make him a sandwich lunch the next day, and why she'll find him climbing up to settle precariously on her shoulder, leaning against the gentle curve of her helmet.

"I'd offer you some of my lunch" he says in response to her chirping, charmed despite himself. "But I don't think you'd like it."

From:

gipsy_danger

Sensors tell her there is weight on her shoulder, but it's so light that he might as well be a feather to her.

A low groan will confirm that he's right -- no, there is nothing about that lunch that seems appealing to Gipsy. Not really, anyway. There's curiosity at the concept of consuming anything except fuel, but not enough to make any queries about it.

Instead she hums softly, engines purring quietly in the interim.

From:

striker_eureka

Sometimes Herc wonders what Gipsy sees in humans. Sure, he knows that her programing is to protect them, and she's shown him a little of what it's like to be on her side of the equation, but still. She's a giant behemoth and he's barely considered tall by human standards. It must be very odd to be her.

He chuckles when she seems not to be interested in his lunch, and so happily tucks in himself — oh man, bread is so good — nattering away to her in between bites.

He doesn't really expect this visit to reveal very much, but it's nice to spend a little time together anyway.

From:

gipsy_danger

Quite the contrary; she learns quite a bit about him while he chatters to her between bites. It's a good opportunity for him to talk without her pestering him in any way shape or form -- though she can't really answer save for a few beeps here and there and maybe an electronic whistle or whirr.

She's a great listener, at least. Anything he tells her, she absorbs like a sponge.

From:

striker_eureka

For some reason, Herc gets onto the subject of what his life was like before the Jaeger program, when he was still married, when Chuck was just a little thing. They had been happy, back before his wife got breast cancer and wasted away before his eyes, leaving him alone with a hyperactive little kid who grew up to be a stranger.

He doesn't really get into that part, though, focusing more on the happier moments of his life, which segues into concerts he went to with his wife, which segues into the music he listens to. That's a fairly safe topic of conversation.

From:

gipsy_danger

Gipsy just keeps listening, retaining the information and filing it away for further perusal. Some of this she has seen flashes of, but not enough pieces to put together a full picture. So all of this that he tells her, all of this personal information that seems to make him happy, Gipsy is pleased to be privy to.

She even ignores the select few crumbs he ends up getting on her in favor of listening in silence, wanting more.

From:

striker_eureka

Herc likes music. It's something he can focus on that distracts him from the reality of his life, the reality of the world at large. It brings him back to a better time.

He's trying his best not to drop pieces of food on her, and when he notices that he's made a mess, he carefully picks up each little piece he can.

"Sorry, love," he says, pinching little crumbs between his fingers. "I'm kind of a slob, it seems."

From:

gipsy_danger

She's very interested in this 'music' thing, and makes a point to look into it later. Maybe pester Tendo by sending communications blipping across his screen while he's trying to work. He'll love that.

He can't hear it, but Gipsy's laughing at him -- slob indeed. She's not mad though, and she beeps once, just to tell him that.

From:

striker_eureka

"Thanks, girlie."

It seems Hercules is learning how to speak Jaeger, because he pats the huge steel plate of her shoulder that he's perching on, seemingly able to understand what that beep meant.

"Have your engineers been behaving themselves with you? I don't need to go give anyone a right dressing-down, do I?"

From:

gipsy_danger

...Gipsy is impressed that he seems to understand. Maybe it's because he's a pilot, maybe it's because he's been spending copious amounts of time with Gipsy herself. She's pretty sure that the other Jaegers aren't nearly as sociable as she is.

She might pride herself a little on that, to be honest. She's not soft like some might think -- she's strong and good 'hearted', and doesn't back down from a fight. That does not mean that she has to present herself in any kind of negative way -- or at least, any kind of particularly nasty way. Hercules might contest the negativity -- he'd been on the receiving end of it originally.

The noise she makes is a no -- her engineers have been much better once he gave them a talking to. They were far more careful now, thanks to him. She appreciates that.

From:

striker_eureka

Well, he figured if she was mad, she'd beep at him a few more times, strident and obnoxious. She's never been afraid to make her displeasure known when it comes down to it.

No, in no way is Gipsy 'soft.' She's a big girl who has thoughts and feelings just like anyone else, and Herc can respect that. He likes that about her, that she's not an unfeeling automaton, or cocky and obnoxious, or snobby and aloof.

He hums happily, leaning back against her helmet again and holding his water loosely against his chest. "Good. I'm glad they're treating you right."

From:

gipsy_danger

...Gipsy does enjoy expressing herself with her beeps when unable to communicate directly.

There's the slightest pressure against his back; Gipsy 'leans' into him, though it's more like a shifting of a panel or two in order to press metal to human, and it's gone in moments and sliding back into place with a click.

From:

striker_eureka

He smiles when he feels her shift against his back, and he cranes his neck around so he can see her optical sensors a little better.

"Was that you being friendly, or am I bothering you? I can move if you'd like."

From:

gipsy_danger

Ugh.

Gipsy makes a frustrated noise. Questions like that are hard to answer when not connected -- it's not a simple yes or no answer. She doesn't want him to move or leave or anything like that. It was a play at mild affection, but she doesn't know how to properly convey it.

She'd kill for a vocal processor right about now.

From:

striker_eureka

Herc seems to realize his mistake and he laughs a little.

"Alright, let's try this. One beep for 'yes, I'm bothering you,' and two beeps for 'no, I was just being friendly.' Sound doable?"

From:

gipsy_danger

Better. She can handle that.

She beeps twice, one right after the other.

From:

striker_eureka

He grins to himself, leaning back against her helmet a little.

"Well thank you, darling, I'm glad to know you like me around."

From:

gipsy_danger

She's beginning to like that term of endearment he's taken to calling her, and she makes a pleased little noise when he says it, then settles in to let him rest against her massive helm for the time being. She doesn't know how long he has or what other duties he needs to attend to -- she just knows that she's enjoying his presence, even without the drift.

From:

striker_eureka

Hercules gets comfortable, stuffing the wrappers from his lunch into his pocket and stretching out his legs, crossing his ankles as he settles down. Gipsy is surprisingly comfortable, actually, and if they weren't in the middle of a crowded docking bay, he might even manage to doze off against her.

Herc has developed the admirable skill of falling asleep at the drop of a hat that all soldiers seem to have. It makes the short nights easier, because whenever he has a moment of downtime, out he goes, like a light.

But it would be rude to sleep on Gipsy when he's here to visit her, so he just lets himself fall back into easy conversation, this time about movies he vaguely remembers watching Before.