ᴙ 06 [Action/Written]

[teenwonder]

[Missions are stupid. They're harrowing and dangerous and only ever give volunteers a glimpse into the world outside the Luceti compound. And Robin's spent a month working in one, providing services for evil people and feeling dirty the entire time.

So naturally there's an experiment when he gets back. Because of course there's an experiment. It's hard to research current events with all the chaos happening everywhere, leaving Robin feeling painfully uninformed in terms of his usual stalking accuracy.

It's customary for Robin to filter things when he uses the journal. It's a tool of their captors, and important to keep as low of a profile as possible when utilizing its services. The problem he hasn't quite realized yet is that the journal has helpfully autocorrected the spelling in his proper names, effectively breaking the filters and leaving his messages open for all to see. It's annoying and something he's having difficulty fixing. How nice to be back in Luceti.]

[(Broken) filter to Aang]
Sorry for cleaving without notice. Hack now. We can lick up your training when you're ready.

[(Broken) filter to Cyborg]
Hey Cubist,
Seems lime you're here. Don't bitter looking for me. Ill be around.

[....Okay, that didn't go well at all. He'll huff and try to make a beeline for Community House 5 instead, sidestepping the chaos overtaking most of town. He might get sidetracked through someone's garden or by colliding into an exceptionally frantic person-running-late, but eventually he'll make it back to his apartment.

He might make a few door-related missteps though. Apologies if he's stepped into your bathroom or out of your bedroom closet.]

Comments

[ voice ] Ahaha I was stalking Ikki and Tenzin's posts when they happened >> BUT THANKS

[teenwonder]

[Katara's dry irony is one of the few things Robin missed about Luceti while he was away.]

Sorry to hear that. I'll have to make it up to you when the experiment's over.


Speaking of which, have you been able to get filters to work right? [ALL THIS TALKING ON AN OPEN LINE. WHAT. WHAT IS IT EVEN.]

[ voice ]

[markofthebrave]

I haven't even bothered trying. The only time they seem even a little bit normal is when people are talking through them.

[But weird accents could probably strike at any time now. Or even rhyming couplets, which would be worse.

...but she does take this as a hint that she won't be getting much more of a talk out of him.]

I'm glad to hear that you're all right.

[And not all. Brainwashed like you were last time you got back from one of these.]

[ voice ]

[teenwonder]

[It helps that he didn't try escaping this time. But there were some guard-types side-eying the hell out of him, so apparently he did a good job on his last time out? He's got no memory of it.]

Of course I am.

Are you at home? The windows aren't affected too, are they?

[ voice ]

[markofthebrave]

[Yes, yes, of course you are. Never any cause to worry. Mentally, Katara sticks her tongue out at him.

But verbally, she just answers his question.]

Yes, I finally made it back to my room. And... I tried the windows yesterday, and it was no good. But who knows, maybe they're unaffected today?

[...are you going to make her leave her room, bro? Her nice, safe, not in anyone's cooking room?]

[ voice ]

[teenwonder]

[Of course not. A gentleman would never.]

I guess we're going to find out. I'll be there when I can.

[Not that he's asking permission or anything. It's a matter of security.]

[ voice ]

[markofthebrave]

All right. Unless something happens I'll be here for the rest of the night.

[So even if you end up in the ocean or something, she'll still be here.

...although now that she's thinking about it, she probably should have just had everyone camp out in the living room. But then, Aang was... well... okay, her own room was better.

And she'd say "See you later," but she has no idea what will happen.]

If you don't want to risk coming through the window, we can always just open it and talk through it.

[ voice ]

[teenwonder]

Don't worry about it. I've got other things to handle while I'm visiting.

[Because yeah he's spoken to Aang.]

[ voice ]

[markofthebrave]

...okay.

[Suddenly, this doesn't sound as friendly as she thought. Maybe she SHOULD be on the look out for weird, post-mission behavior.]

See you then.

[ voice ]

[teenwonder]

[Nope, that's just Robin's usual people skills.]

Stay safe, okay?

[And then he's off! He'll probably be wandering around for at least an hour before he's anywhere near Avatar House.]

[ voice -> action ]

[markofthebrave]

[So he can worry about her, but she can't worry about him? What gives?]

I'll be fine. See you soon.

[And she will be just fine, sitting in the middle of her room and looking for all intents and purposes like she'd meditating. Not a normal practice of hers, to be sure.]

[ action ]

[teenwonder]

[Good. At least she'll have kept herself properly entertained while he was having travel adventures. He'll enter through her bedroom door despite his attempt at window-only contact.]

Hey. Sorry about that.

[ action ]

[markofthebrave]

[Quite unlike her usual startlement at his sudden appearances, Katara just turns her head around and motions him in.]

That's okay, I figured it would be a while. How was the mission?

[ action ]

[teenwonder]

I had to play nice this time. I didn't get much in the way of useful information. I even stayed longer to try squeezing something out of them. [He huffs, plopping onto Katara's bed.]

[ action ] 1/3

[markofthebrave]

[Boy on bed! ACK!

r u d e.]

[ action ]

[markofthebrave]

[She inhales to lecture him off that bit of furniture when a little switch clicks in her head--

It's just Robin. He probably hasn't noticed she was a girl for any other purpose than to mark it in his mental notebook to avoid her at certain times of the month.]

[ action ]

[markofthebrave]

[So Katara gets up and goes to sit on the opposite side of her bed.]

Find anything?

[ action ]

[teenwonder]

Nothing we didn't already know. I think I might've roughed up some of the Malosso in charge from the last time. I didn't get any time alone to investigate.

[Which is WAY MORE UPSETTING than any weird gender stuff Katara may have been considering.]

[ action ]

[markofthebrave]

[Whatever, dude, when you have a granddaughter or two show up in the village, you tell her that gender stuff is weird 8|.

She just nods.]

I had some time to talk to one of the Malnosso Security Forces while we were on the draft. He had a few interesting things to say.

[ action ]

[teenwonder]

[Oh, he's definitely not living long enough to procreate. Robin made peace with that a long time ago.]

Oh yeah? Like what?

[ action ]

[markofthebrave]

[See, that's what we call a "self-fulfilling prophecy." 8|]

Like all of the MSF is volunteer. Specialist Davis said he'd only been here for twenty-five years. He was kept in an enclosure before he joined their security forces.

[ action ]

[teenwonder]

[NOPE that's what we call "realism."]

So they're all traitors. That's good to know.

[ action ]

[markofthebrave]

[Blink. That wasn't the impression she'd taken away from that conversation at all, Robin, what even--]

Why would you say that?

[ action ]

[teenwonder]

You said it yourself. They're volunteer forces using their rank to get away from their prisons. They're selling out their fellow captives.

[ action ]

[markofthebrave]

No, that's not what I said. They're volunteering to stand against the Third Party, that's not betraying the people that they were imprisoned with any more than you going on a mission was betraying me. I don't even know if the enclosures stay active after they start taking volunteers.

[ action ]

[teenwonder]

My mission was for reconnaissance. It's not the same thing.