shitposting rave 5: discount rejects from every genre

*He looks down for a second, thinking.* There was snow falling. I was...not sad, but...I don't know, I don't remember. *His eyes go dull and flat for a moment, but then he shakes his head.*

I don't remember much before here, no. And yes, I could do that when I was alive. *His mouth curves a little.* I had some amount of skill with it, as well.

 

No matter, that happens sometimes! It's likely still there waiting for you should you choose to go back, whether or not you can remember it in detail. I'm just a curious old nut, me. And I should hope you had skill with that, it really is quite lovely! An absolute pain for your opponents to deal with, I'd imagine, ice can do all sorts of nasty things, but isn't that rather the point sometimes?

 

Sometimes. More than I would have liked. *His eyes start doing that thing again.* But it was useful, so I was useful by extension.

 

"Are you sure you are actually dead?" Lissa inquires. "I thought so once, but I'd just gotten stuck in a portal."

 

-Jason watches, interested-
Huh. Less bulky than the ice weapons I'm used to, that's for sure. Don't worry, I'm not about to ask you to give up trade secrets. That's just bad manners.
-he starts going through some simple stretches as he talks-
As for the team thing... It's complicated. You probably don't want to get mixed up in my mess of alliances right now.

 

Dealing with your own skillset? Do you get into fights often? How do you beat them if they are copies of yourself?

 

Look kid, whoever you were in your past life doesn't matter. You can only stay in the present and look to the future. Try to be better than the you in the past, and be the greatest person you know.

 

Lissa shrugs. "My sister and I aren't exactly alike."

 

No, I died, for certain. *He puts a hand up to his chest without realizing he's doing it.* That I can remember very clearly.

*He nods politely, hand falling back to his side unnoticed.* Secrecy is a very necessary part of the technique, yes. It's not as effective if they know what's coming.

I really never have worked with a full team before, so perhaps it's for the best. But if you ever need someone at your back...I can follow commands, I can lie and maintain a cover, I can move nearly silently, and I'm very fast. And I know how to take down an enemy. *He swallows hard.* I don't like killing. But I'll do what I have to.

*Haku turns to look at the new arrival.* I don't know if there is a future, here. And I still hope I haven't lost that person from my past. But no matter what, I know the greatest thing I can do is to protect and aid someone who is precious to me. That's the only thing that matters. *He finally sounds like he's back on solid ground with this.*

 

Whoa, kid, I didn't ask for your resume. Appreciate the thought, but I still don't know you yet, and even if I did, no telling if you could come where I'd actually need the backup. Coming back from the dead is a tricky business.

 

*Haku actually takes a step back* Of course. I...don't know why I didn't think of that. I'm sorry.

 

'Useful'... [Arguing with this kid won't help, will it? Not with the way he dug his heels in earlier.] ...is certainly a thing to be, yes! Not the only thing, but if it's what you're aiming for, well, there you go! Can you control what shape the ice takes? Seems to me like that could be art, there, not just a weapon.

"Often" on what scale? Cosmologically speaking, yes, but otherwise... [Vector shrugs.] Not this me most of the time anyways, I've got enough trouble as it is keeping the mortals who followed me from getting even further out and breaking something without going and inviting a Sigma-cluster Vector to hold a grudge! The ones who deal with them tend to just go with chaos-- just like I can't quite imagine being stuck in one track, it's proved out that SG Vectors aren't much good at dealing with randomization.

 

Don't be sorry for being dead. Not exactly something you can help.

 

Any I think, since it's usually pretty mathematical and mostly instrumental. I'm gonna play good shit at my stomach though, get some of my favorite bands and play that. All music is math, right?

*Pauses and frowns* I'm assuming they'll be like human babies? Either way, I'm going to give these kids all the love I can. I'm also not gonna be away like my parents were, not that they could help it. Latch-key kid problems. *laughs a little*

 

Beink dead iz offerrated. Dot iz vy ve Jaegers try not to do eet. Hy nearly vos vonce, eet vos unpleasant.
-Mirrors is the picture of a comfortably content and satiated... large terracotta coloured dude with tusks. He's reclining on some cushions that probably came back with him from the fade-to-black, judging from the state of them, and is wearing only a loincloth-

 

Lissa ruffles his hair. "I'm sure you'll be good with them. Just don't be surprised if they're not fully human, since you're not, and since the way they came into existence wasn't either." She sighs; then her ears droop, and her face turns purple, and she shoves her hands up over her eyes, her face screwed up tight under her hands.

 

*He brightens a little bit.* I always did think it was pretty. Shaping it in anything other than a spike or a sheet is a lot of effort, and I never had time to practice at it. I can do this, though. *He flicks through another series of handseals, two handed this time, and more careful, and then holds his palms out flat. A figure like an enlarged snowflake begins to form across his palms, branching with sixfold symmetry.* It crystallizes mostly on its own, I just have to give it a place to start.

*He curls his fingers shut over the snowflake and it disintegrates.* It's essentially a waste of energy, though. They collapse before they get very big, and I never heard of anyone using their abilities just for the sake of beauty, anyway. It's not safe to show off your techniques to people who could become your opponents.

Well, I did choose it, as it happens, but if I was in the same situation, I would make the same choice. It was a good death.

I just...don't know what to do afterwards.

 

You don't seem like the type to swear a quest for revenge and cut a swathe through the people responsible, so... I dunno. Learn something you always wanted to and never got to, maybe? I did some of that.

 

*Haku shakes his head.* No, I'm not interested in revenge. The person who killed me was just trying to protect people important to him, like I was. And I don't know if I can even get back. *Vaguely, Haku realizes he doesn't know if he even wants to, but he pushes that thought away as quick as possible.*

I could try to get better at reading, maybe. I can read signs and things, but if I wanted to read a newspaper I'd need a dictionary. Then maybe I could learn more about the human body. I know all the major organs and the important nerves and blood vessels, but it would be interesting to know the why of those things.

*He curls his fingers in and looks down at them. His nails are still painted teal, though chipped and cracked.* Or maybe...I could try to make beautiful things.

 

Reading gets easier the more you do it, at least. Rest of it I can't help you with - I can dig out a bullet and stitch up a stab wound as well as any other vigilante, but I don't know shit about how it works, and I'm not much for art. But you got time. You can learn whatever.