hyperkinesia | ( Savrou ) IC Contact

[Peridot remains sitting on a stool at her work desk, arms folded, frowning judgmentally at the little puffball.]

It's very... exciteable, as you can see.

[ But the little puffball is so cute! Look how happy he is, lying on his back so Bruce can scratch his tummy. ]

That's dogs for you. [ He glances up at her with a smile. ] They grow out of it eventually.

Well that's a relief. At least I won't be inflicting upon you the care of some creature that will behave like that for the rest of it's lifetime.

[Yes Bruce, she expects you to take it.]

Me?

[ Bruce sounds both surprised and amused at the mere suggestion that he's taking the dog. She's got to be joking— no she isn't, she's totally serious and he should know better by now than to wonder. ]

I'm not taking him. It looks like he wants to be yours anyway, not mine.

[Instant turn around in her demeanor. She looks offended, leaning back in surprise.]

Me? But I don't want it! What purpose could I possible have for such a pointless creature?!

[ She's shoving a dog at him and she's the one looking offended. A Peridot classic. ]

They're good company? They're cheerful and fun. And this little guy will love you unconditionally, if only you let him. [ Standing behind the dog, Bruce lifts his front paws from the ground as if presenting him to Peridot, cooing a little. To make a point, of course. ] Look at this cutie face. How can you say no to that?

[Peridot’s expression only darkens. She scowls, folding her arms over her chest.]

I don’t require any of those things, which makes it even more pointless than I thought! Besides, I don’t know how to take care of a tiny organic… thing, like that!

Of course you don't. You don't need all the things you have. Sometimes you just want them. And company's a nice thing to have, even when you don't need it.

[ He beckons her to come closer, as he lowers the dog on his four paws again, he himself crouching next to the pet. ] Get over here. Have you ever even petted a dog? Come on.

Doctor Banner, I have a rather specialized request to make. Do you have some time?

I do, yes. [ Bruce nods at the camera in way of greeting, even if he's never talked to this person before. ] What can I help you with?

[She hesitates a second, but soon she's plodding her way over, stopping a few cautious feet back.]

What is it I'm supposed to do, exactly?

I've obtained some samples of the whale mineral and I'm hoping to obtain a formula for recreating a synthetic version of it. Do you think you can help me?

[ A slight frown takes over his features. ] What for?

I have the intention of selling it off and further destabilizing the demand for the real whale mineral. An extra level of safety on top of everything else.

Additionally, it would provide us with a source of wealth independent of the Captains.

You pet him. [ Said as if it's self-explanatory. It isn't, though, so he goes on to add. ]

You use your hands to stroke them gently. Some dogs like belly rubs while others prefer ear scratches. But generally they like just about anything. [ As he talks, he shows her how to do it, stroking a hand along the puppy's back, then down to his tummy and chest, finally moving up to his head to scratch him behind his ears. The puppy lets out a satisfied sigh, his eyelids lowering pleasantly as he keeps his eyes fixed on Bruce. ] Like this. See?

Effectively turning us all into drug dealers. [ Because that's what it is, and as much as Bruce works with shades of grey more often than not, sometimes he likes painting things in either black or white, call them for what they are. ]

How long were you planning on doing this? Because we can't offer supply indefinitely. What happens once we're out of range? And how will you know if this currency is even worth anything outside of these planets, or this system?

[It takes Nihlus a moment to parse why drug dealing seemed to have a negative connotation. The he remembers humans tended to look down on recreational drug use- with some exceptions.]

Think of it as copying the recipe for a high alcohol content liquor.

[Voluntary self poisoning with alcohol was weirdly universal.]

And like I said, it's only for the formulation and we're not supplying or manufacturing the product. The workers in the Temporaries indicated it wasn't a very well explored market.

As for currency, that will be additional research the next time we hit a civilized station or planet. The diversity of workers in the Temporaries suggests some form of common currency standard, though.

[ Depends on the recreational drug, really. Bruce isn't entirely sure where this mineral would fall on the spectrum of drug use he's familiar with, but the simple fact that creatures were getting murdered just to get it is enough for him to be very much against it. ]

I see.

[ The guy does make a point, Bruce is just... very unsure about the whole thing. He's already running a myriad of consequences and ways all this could go wrong in his head, and he sure doesn't like any of those possible scenarios. And that's if he completely ignores the fact they'll be providing a drug for addicts to keep using, whereas a complete lack thereof would at least force them to get clean.

He could always modify the formula a little so that the effects lessen over time, though. No one would even need to know. (He's a sneaky bastard like that.) ]

I'll need to think about it. [ A pause. ] Think you can bring over some of those samples so I can take a look?

[This was specifically a move to prevent the newly discovered people of Ceta from being killed should the shield or mercenaries fail. They've inadvertently made the planet into an oversized treasure box and everyone knows where the 'X' is.]

I can do that. What time will be good for you?

[The Doctor seems to have some unfortunate ideas about the psychology of addiction that Nihlus will probably have to try and correct anyhow.]

[ Right, well. 'Try' being the keyword here, so good luck with that. ]

I'm a little busy today, so tomorrow morning, would that work for you? I'll be at the department starting early.

Umm...

[Peridot looks at her weird gauntlet fingers. They're flexible, but... Is the idea to touch the dog with her actual hand? Is it ok to use her limb enhancers? THIS IS SO COMPLICATED!!!

In the end she settles on just. Extending a single disembodied finger and strokes the puppy's cheek with it. It turns to look at it with mild curiosity... and then grabs it out of the air in its mouth, because it's a puppy, what else is it supposed to do with a mysterious hovering object.]

Wha-- HEY!

[ Well, Bruce would suggest her taking off the limb enhancers but he also knows how she feels about them, so he says nothing to that. Shouldn't make much of a difference, anyway— at least that's what he's thinking, until she reaches for the puppy and he unceremoniously mouths one of her disembodied fingers.

He can't help himself. The moment it happens he lets out a loud laugh, louder than she's probably ever heard from him, his head tipping back a little before he reaches for the dog and gets him to let go of the finger. ]

Sorry— that didn't hurt, did it? [ Kind of unsure of how that works for Gems still. Every day, a new thing that leaves him wondering. ] You might want to try it without the limb enhancer. He probably thought your floating finger was a treat.

[Her cheeks flush a deep teal blue, a product of the combination of indignation, embarrassment from hearing Bruce laugh at her like that, and also of surprise, because she's never heard Bruce make a sound quite that loud before.

She settles down a bit when he gives her finger back, though. Shoulders slump, blush decreases.]

No, it didn't hurt... [she says a little sourly as she reintegrates the digit back in with the rest of its fellows, giving the puppy the stink-eye.]

Why would it think it was a treat, though? These things are so dumb!

[Of course as she says that she's also retracting all five fingers back into the wrist portion of the device and popping it off, exposing her regular bare hand in its place.]

[Nihlus doesn't have a lot of luck, but he does have experience and some measure of stubbornness! Especially since there's no way of making sure that adding unknown ingredients to a popular drug used by aliens wouldn't kill some of them horribly or something.]

That is suitable. I will see you then, Doctor.

[It's morning the next day and Nihlus is waiting politely near the entryway with a little box tucked under one arm. He's been working with Tali cleaning up after the scraplets for most of the night and he smells a lot like the engines.]

That's dogs for you. Mouth things first, ask questions later.

[ Or... not ask questions at all, even. Anyway, point is that the disembodied finger probably looks like a cookie or a sausage to him, and it's not like the pup would know the difference between colors or anything.

He's glad to see that she's willing to give it a second chance, though, or at least it seems like it. Still petting the dog, he tugs him just a little closer to the two of them, easily within her reach. ]

I'm sure he won't try to mouth your hand now, you'll see.

( Savrou ) IC Contact

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April 5th - Private Video

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video -> action

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