for striker_eureka

[gipsy_danger]

((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. ))

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[striker_eureka]

Likewise, Hercules spends far longer sleeping than he normally does, trying to let his body repair his aches and pains as best as it can while he loses himself in dreaming of pleasanter times. Or in completely fabricated pleasant times, which have less to do with painful memories and more to do with infuriating chess matches and short black hair. Gipsy has clearly made an impression on him with her little rendering, there.

Eventually he crawls out from his bunk and rejoins the land of the living and functional, which is when he gets briefed on the status of all the Jaegers, Gipsy included.

He's relived that she's salvageable, but he wishes it would be a little less slap-dash. He understands why they're rushing, though. The frequency of Kaiju attacks is increasing, and that's more than enough to make anyone nervous about being short a powerhouse like Gipsy Danger.

The next day, Tendo casually mentions that they've got her back online, which of course, means that Herc is climbing up her support frame to go visit.

[gipsy_danger]

She's there and waiting for him in all of her enormous mechanical glory. The repairs are mostly' complete', or as complete as they're going to get. She's online and humming softly, waiting for him to appear.

She knew he would, really. It had just been a question of when it was going to happen. Seemed like that time was now, and when he directly links in with her, her avatar is standing there and waiting.

[striker_eureka]

As soon as he recovers from the neural handshake, he smiles at her and spreads his arms. C'mon, come a little closer, it's time for hugs.

Hello, love.

[gipsy_danger]

Oh, alright. With that gesture she's in his arms immediately, wrapping hers around him and resting her cheek on his shoulder.

Hello, Hercules. How are you feeling?

[striker_eureka]

He squeezes her tight, tucking his head down against hers as he smooths one hand down her spine reassuringly.

Much better. How are you, though?

[gipsy_danger]

He's very affectionate today, and Gipsy has no complaints.

Same as you, I should think. Much better.

She probes a little into his mind, always testing the validity of it, and comes up with nothing save his honesty. His familiar aches are there and as always she wonders about them, but he hasn't lied. 'Better' does not mean 'perfectly fine'.

You are always so much more concerned about me. I am a jaeger. Harder to hurt, sort of. You are human. Why do you worry so?

[striker_eureka]

Well. He blinks a little, not quite sure how to word this properly.

We rely on you to do so much; you have to go face to face with monsters that threaten the whole world. And I know you're built for that, but even so. Someone should worry about you.

She deserves having someone worry about her. And he worries more about her than the others because she's more human to him; her AI is so well-developed that she's become his friend. Even Striker, with whom he Drifts regularly, doesn't elicit this kind of response from him.

And you're my friend, so.

[gipsy_danger]

We are built to protect. And to die, in a way. Jaegers fell frequently before the program was decommissioned. Gipsy doesn't mind dying for the cause, though it's something she'd like to avoid.

Especially lately.

And you are mine. The grip around him tightens protectively, fingers skirting up and down his back. I will protect you.

[striker_eureka]

He chuckles quietly, patting her shoulders as she squeezes him tightly.

I think I'm pretty safe in here, don't you?

Because he'd rather not think about fighting right now, about going back out there and battling more monsters, about potentially losing more people he cares about.

[gipsy_danger]

This is the safest place in the world for you, Hercules Hansen.

She loosens her hold on him because -- what is appropriate? -- and smiles. It's a warm smile, one that's genuine and visibly shows him the affection that she's always allowed him to feel.

[striker_eureka]

Then I guess I have a good reason to stay, don't I?

The answer is yes, clearly. He always has a good reason to stay in Gipsy's head; Gipsy herself is here. So. There you have it.

So what shall we do today?

[gipsy_danger]

She likes that mentality, and it's an easy thing to let him know. It's written both on her face and sent into his consciousness, her affection obvious.

I had questions for you, if you will answer them.

[striker_eureka]

He settles 'down' comfortably, smiling at her and spreading his hands a little.

Ask away, my dear. I am quite literally an open book.

[gipsy_danger]

She takes his hands, examining them curiously.

Why do you always hurt so much? No matter the rest you achieve, you still ache in the back of your mind. I know. I feel it. I want to stop it.

[striker_eureka]

He has to admit; that was not a question he was anticipating.

Well... I'm forty-three. And the past twenty-five years of my life have been in the military. I'm getting old, and my body can't quite handle the same stress it used to. I mean, I keep in shape, I eat as well as I can, but even so. We aren't built for this kind of thing, not for such a prolonged period of time.

[gipsy_danger]

Her brow is furrowed and she squeezes his hands, feeling helpless.

I don't understand. Repair yourself. It isn't difficult.

[striker_eureka]

He chuckles, feeling very fond of her. Squeezing her hands, he shrugs a little.

It's not quite that easy. We don't have mechanics who can fix us so quickly. Sure, if I broke my arm, a doctor would set it so everything is straight again, but he can't just go in and solder the bone back together. It has to heal naturally, and that takes time. As you get older, it takes longer and longer to heal. Your joints stop being as flexible. Your body gets more sensitive to little things that didn't bother you when you were younger.

It's a natural part of aging, love, there's nothing I can do about it.

[gipsy_danger]

She untangles a hand to reach up and touch his face.

This is a concept I am unfamiliar it. May I look deeper?

[striker_eureka]

Of course.

He brings up all the times he can remember being in hospital; from when he was a little kid and fell and broke his arm, to the times he's been injured in combat before the Jaeger program, to the times he's done something stupid while piloting and fucked himself up that way. Included in the slideshow are bruises and scrapes, colds and headaches, nosebleeds, splinters, whatever he can think of that would help her understand how the human body works and how it deals with injuries and pain.

[gipsy_danger]

She doesn't like what she's seeing, not at all. It's building inside if her, a panic she doesn't understand. She's trying to understand, but the concept is foreign. Why have an entity than cannot be repaired?

She presses deeper, concern the prominent emotion as she digs. She finds that with age comes other problems and then death.

Death.

That's something she's familiar with and she releases him instantly, staggering backwards with a gasp.

No.

[striker_eureka]

He thinks her concern for him is sweet, if somewhat misguided, but he doesn't try to halt her curious poking around in his head. Not, at least, until she realizes that after a while he's going to die regardless of what he does with his life, and then she reels back like he's hit her.

Gipsy? Instantly, he's reaching for her, concerned and more than a little alarmed by her reaction.

Hey, hey, it's okay. It's okay, love, I'm fine.

[gipsy_danger]

She pulls further away, grief washing over her as memories of Yancy and his death wash through the Drift.

It's pointless! She looks at him helplessly, a little wildly. It's so pointless!

She's the one chasing a rabbit now. Losing Yancy had been painful, and all that's brought back anew.

[striker_eureka]

Her avatar is still here, and so Herc doesn't let himself hesitate before he pulls her into his arms again, holding her close and cradling her against his chest as he tries to talk her down.

No it's not, nothing is pointless. Least of all life. I've had a great life, Gipsy, and so have you. So did Yancy. There are parts that are scary, sure, and parts that are painful, but there are also parts that are exciting and joyous and meaningful, and that's what keeps life from being pointless. Nobody wants to die, but it happens, and that's really awful. I know it's awful.

He knows, alright. Watching Leslie waste away to nothing right before him was the hardest thing he's ever had to go through, and he was the healthy one there.

But that doesn't make any of it pointless.

[gipsy_danger]

Initially, Gipsy fights the embrace, but it’s a weak attempt and she doesn’t break away. It’s not what she wants to do, not really – his heat is comforting (and confusing), and while she doesn’t’ ‘cry’, her shoulders tremble and she grips at him, fingers digging into the material of his ‘suit’.

We fight and we fight and we fight and then you die anyway--

Because to a Jaeger, death is strange. They are computers, essentially – massive, technologically advanced computers that have a strange sense of ‘time’ and ‘age’ and ‘life’ and ‘death’. They don’t think like humans do, not when it comes to things like this.

Gipsy knows, realistically, that nothing lives forever – not even her. But to be confronted with it again and in someone so dear to her again, it rips open old wounds and leaves her raw and bleeding, helpless in his arms. He’s barely there in front of her now as she gets lost in her memories, the day that Yancy died. All of her grief and hurt and pain and anger starts to make its way into the drift and she can’t hold it back – not while she’s chasing memories. He’s going to have to relieve Yancy’s death with her, unless he severs the connection.

[striker_eureka]

Herc knows when the tides turn against him, and he knows that he really should disconnect from Gipsy, because having her chasing the rabbit like this with a single pilot will probably be too much neural strain for him. She's too lost in her own memories to remember to hold herself back.

And yet he doesn't pull away, doesn't start the disconnect sequence, just grits his teeth and squares his shoulders and hunkers down to weather the storm.

Hercules always had a bit of a stupid streak.

But he doesn't want her to have to go through this alone, and so here he is, his fingers curling against her spine, a low noise of sympathy rumbling in his chest, both mentally and physically. Tendo is probably freaking out right now, but there's nothing Herc can do about it.