come_sailaway | We're wide awake now, our eyes are wide open. We're running this world, we keeping it turning

She sounds awfully calm about that potential loss of control and he's impressed by that. He supposes he would be too, well externally anyway if anyone asked, but it does sound honestly terrifying. Losing control is one of the things that's nightmare fuel to him.

"They do, and I could, but.. I've genuinely not thought about singing. I'm not sure I'd ever need to?" Considering his soft, soothing voice he'd probably have an extremely beautiful voice. Alas.

"Oh that's clever. I suppose neither of us will know if the other is lying but... That sounds amusing. Terms accepted."

She's only so calm because she's lived through the worst of it and came out the other side mostly whole. And she knows what happens when the fear overcomes her, hoping to avoid falling into such desperation again. But it's the sort of nightmare that grasps at the edges of her consciousness every night.

Ava flexes her fingers against the tingling. "Don't think anyone really needs to. But. Maybe at birthday parties." She hasn't had one of those in a long long time. And wonders if a robot even has such a thing. He could easily be 2 years old or 200 and she wouldn't know any difference.

"Excellent. Better deal those cards," Ava is pretty sure she'd be a disaster at shuffling. Perhaps he has some tricky advanced way of stacking the deck, but she trusts him well enough when the stakes are this low.

"Ava, by the way."

He's never had a birthday party, or even celebrated his.. well, manufacture date. Which seems far less celebratory honestly.

Instead he shuffles the deck, dealing them out again with a small flourish. Luckily for her he is not currently cheating, and he's not planning on it, but he definitely could count cards and stack the deck and employ some shady dealing practices. But no reason to cheat when he's teaching someone how to play and there's zero stakes involved. He doesn't even particularly care if he wins, it's just nice to even talk to someone about anything other than the death ship they're on.

"Maximilien. It's a pleasure." He actually means it too, "It's been a rather long time since I've been able to play without fear of getting arrested."

She feels as if she wouldn't be worth cheating anyway, given he could just make up any rule he likes in order to claim a victory. And there's no real satisfaction in that. But she still watches his card dealing technique closely, because she's still been trying to figure out how anyone can handle cards so smoothly. "Can you do any card tricks?" she asks curiously while she glances at the cards in her hand.

Oh, a two, her expression falls slightly. He mentioned that it was better to fold when receiving such, but... no, she wants to see how this all plays out anyway. Her other card is a King, so maybe that balances things out. No straight that she can make with that... but at least they're both hearts? She remembers him saying that matters, but she's not certain how many you have to have to make it count. But asking might give away what she's got, so she doesn't.

"Is that one you picked, or was chosen for you?" Because it doesn't sound particularly roboty. "It's been a long time since I've been able to do much without getting arrested either, but that's the life of a fugitive I suppose," she smiles. "I really don't think there's really any laws here other than designated smoking areas."

"Perhaps." Not that he does one, but once he's set the deck down after dealing he does seem to produce a pokerchip out of nowhere and walk it across his knuckles before it disappears again. It's different than the ones currently on the table, a more golden color and thicker.

"I chose it. We weren't given names." He has a serial number instead which he's probably filed off at this point out of spite. Max is someone who spends his free time filling out captchas online just to prove he can.

"Finally a true lawless frontier and neither of us can properly enjoy it. Likely by design." He sighs, a soft sound since he doesn't actually need to breathe, "Though I suppose it's less fun to break them if they simply don't exist. Maybe. I'm unsure how I feel about that."

The cards in the center are somewhat in her favor, a seven of hearts, four of diamonds, and three of hearts. So at least she has a lot of one suit. Max glances at his own cards, which are a seven and a jack. Currently he only has one pair. Not ideal.

Oh neat, Ava leans right through the table in order to try getting a closer look, blinking in surprise at the chip disappearing. She gives a slightly confused yet delighted clap, grinning up at Max.

"It's a nice one," Ava remembers Rin telling her about how it selected its own to go by as well. "What inspired it? I was given a codename, but it's rather uninspired." And feels silly to go by here.

"Still, I make the most of it that I can," Ava knows she's lying to herself, really. But it's a lie that keeps her going. "I've been trying not to feel about it. Lot of wasted energy, feeling."

She tries to study Max's face, but there really isn't much to give away about what he's working with. "So we're able to... up the stakes as we go, right?"

He laughs a little at her eagerness. She's like Sombra without the threat of hacking him and making his vision purple or trying to turn him into a boombox. He prefers Ava honestly.

"I was an accountant for extremely wealthy people, and I wanted them to call me something other than just 'Omnic'. It seemed fitting." He likes his name, it sounds fancy and elegant, like him.

"A code name? Like a superhero?" considering what she's said he doesn't think she's the crime fighting type, but still, that would be amusing if she was.

"Yes, we can bet before each card is revealed."

He would make a fun boombox though.

"An... accountant," Ava chuckles, because she really cannot think of anything that sounds more boring. Which, oh, okay, makes sense why humans would put together a fancy machine to do it. "Sounds like an absolute waste of your potential, really. Did you at least embezzle from the bastards?"

She ducks slightly behind her cards, eyes narrowed at the accusation. Then huffs. "Maybe a bit like that. Except not the hero part. You know, whatever the opposite of that is."

Ava eyes the cards again. Yeah, why not go for it. "Okay, I bet one personal secret and add in... an embarrassing confession."

"Oh absolutely." said with the tone that he would have been aghast to find out someone in his position hadn't embezzled from them. Granted Omnics at the time hadn't been allowed to accumulate wealth so it had been extremely complicated, but those were the kinds of challenges he was willing to overcome in order to spitefully rub it in other people's faces later.

That expression is noted, that she clearly didn't like the hero comparison. How curious. "I suppose both sides need codenames. Or secret identities or something of that sort. It does sound better in news reports to have a catchy name then an actual one."

He hums debating about his current single pair hand. Not the greatest, but at least it's something. There's a chance that can improve, and these aren't the worst stakes. He has a multitude of vaguely embarrassing things to choose from.

"I'll match that bet."

He flips the fourth card, a ten of hearts. Hm, still only a pair. And another heart for her.

"I stay out of news reports," Ava claims simply. "That's the best way to get caught. I was designed to operate in secrecy. My codename, Ghost. Wasn't meant to be flashy. Just, a reminder of my role." She doesn't get to be anyone, her identity a lack of one.

Ava smiles at the acceptance of her bet, trying to still hide her expression behind the cards as the next turned is clearly in her favor.

Does she push further? Raise the stakes? "And your tie." An innocent sort of blink, seeing what she can get away with.

"That sounds unfortunate." Because having a role was like having a designation - one single slot to fill and if you couldn't, then the knowledge you'd be replaced with someone else.

He's not feeling very confident in this hand at all. Even if the last card gives him two pair he has a suspicion she has something better.

A tilt of his head, "Clever, but no. I can't replace it here, the shops are distinctly lacking."

And he needs his whole outfit or he'll stop functioning. That's just science.

"Yes, but they always liked to remind me that I could have been picked up by worse," and Ava knows it's true. But she's not grateful.

She gives a bit of a disappointed pout, but supposes she doesn't have much of equal value to offer in exchange for the bet. He doesn't seem the sort that would be interested in a giant brick of Pez.

"Some people get... gifts," Ava tells Max. "Maybe because the captain likes them, I guess. Perhaps you will." She's in a scrubby set of sweats so... it's obvious she hasn't been on the lucky end of receiving much.

"Then I guess let's see who won."

"You could have, but you weren't. It hardly makes sense to be grateful for something that didn't happen that would have been worse. That would be like saying we should all be grateful when we woke up here with all our appendages." He scoffs, he's a businessman - he doesn't care about might haves and could have been. He cares about facts.

"Presents from the Captain? I'm not sure that being the Captain's favorite is at all a good thing." In fact that's probably a bad thing. Assuming this Captain even exists. He still kind of thinks Skulduggery is making him up.

He flips the next card, a Jack of hearts. Well now Max has two pair, but unbenowknst to him she has a flush. So she'll be winning this hand.

Laying his cards down he gives her a look, "So which of us is telling a secret?"

((OOC:I actually RNGed this with a shuffled deck because they were so close lol.))

"I am glad to have my appendages," Ava doesn't have a whole lot that she can appreciate in life. Sometimes all she has are the could be worses.

"Or somebody?" Ava sounds a bit uncertain. "Friday? She seems nice enough, maybe she feels sorry for us." She's done her best to steer clear of her as well, doesn't want to be a bother to somebody who clearly has far too much to deal with. Her hope is if she leaves them be, they'll leave her be as well. "But all I got was a giant Hello Kitty. Don't even know why they call her that, she doesn't even have a mouth so how would she say-"

Ava cuts off her rambling, staring at the reveal of the final card. Well damn, maybe she isn't always so unlucky after all. She turns hers around with an attempt at a flourish, smiling. "Make it a good one." Yes she's very excited to know what sorts of secrets a robot might have.

"I don't know what a hello kitty is? Is it.. a giant cat? A giant cat without a mouth?" He also doesn't know what a pez dispenser is so this will be a whole new branch of pop culture to consume.

"Hmm." He drums his fingers on the table. "I have a great many secrets but they're not going to be interesting without context. Let me see.."

It's going to be meaningless to tell her he sold out Akande or that he keeps feeding information to Commander Morrison because he wants a favor from whats left of the leader of Overwatch. And admitting to murders would kill the mood.

"When I was an accountant I used to steal bags of coffee from my employer and keep them in my desk because I liked the way they smelled."

Which is both a little embarrassing and kind of sad because he can't actually drink coffee. Just huff the smell of it.

"A cartoon cat," famous enough that even she knows of its pop culture significance, though her knowledge starts and ends there. What this cat does, she couldn't tell you. Does it have friends? No idea. "I'd let you see my Hello Kitty, if you like. Back in my room," Ava offers in a playful sort of tone that indicates she's quite aware of what it sounds like.

She waits patiently for the secret, not expecting anything too revealing. But she's not disappointed. "Ah, well it certainly smells better than it tastes. It tastes like self-loathing in the early morning. How do you feel about tea?" To risk sounding like a parody of herself, British accent and all.

"Hmm. Is that so?" Turns out he can lower his voice to one hell of a bedroom purr. Though he goes back to his normal tone right afterwards.

"Self loathing in the early morning is the best description I have ever heard. Tea doesn't smell as strongly, I can't drink it, so I can only smell it. Or maybe I just haven't been around the right kind of tea? I'm told there's thousands of different kinds."

Oh. That's unexpected. And does things that Ava doesn't want to fully acknowledge, a small kick at his foot from underneath the table.

"Well, maybe if you brew it strongly enough," Ava suggests. "I'm partial to chamomile, perhaps that's too subtle. But a nice oolong or orange pekoe..." she ponders. "They have a decent collection at the cafe."

Heh. He chuckles lowly but backs down. Max is full of secrets and surprises.

"I have to say that neither of those sound like real words. I know they are because I have heard people drone on and on about tea, but still." Says the guy who could probably drone on and on about something equally boring. But when he does it it's important, fancy and interesting. When other people do it he turns his hearing off.

"I haven't actually gone into the eating establishments here. There didn't seem like much of a point. Though I do have an assigned dining time."

It might be the alcohol's influence that has her so curious, but not enough to drink yet to actually ask. (Look she knows that one Avenger got freaky with a robot...)

"Oh," she slumps slightly, dismisses the idea of inviting him out to... enjoy the aroma of drinks together. Because she doesn't want to be droning, apparently.

"My assigned time is when there's no food even being served," Ava admits. "But it's nice, I can sit around for awhile and wait. So how do you... refuel anyway?" She idly starts rearranging her winning cards into the shape of a star.

Max won't bring anything up, because honestly getting laid is not on the forefront of his priorities on a weird ghost ship that might be trying to kill him. But if she flirts, he will always flirt back. He can't help it, it's his nature.

"To be clear, you are not the one droning on." He sees that slump.

"I don't plug in like a cell phone if that's what you're expecting. I regenerate a charge by going into a shut down state. You would call it sleeping, though it's probably not the same. Fortunately I don't have to do that more than a few times a month, the cabin I've been assigned seems to already be occupied."

She's new to flirting, and there's certainly a fun thrill to it, being treated as something other than a freakish science experiment. But she ran into that problem with Watson, when it started to seem like he was interested in more. Ava has no idea how to give more, and so she backs down before she's scared herself off from yet another hopeful attempt at friendship. But... yes, she doesn't find him unappealing at all.

She hadn't even realized how obvious she was at the perceived rejection, a bit of an embarrassed huff as she waves it off as if she hadn't been worried about boring him at all. "I just wondered if maybe you'd... want to join me sometime. See if there were any that you liked." It seems even sillier to say it aloud.

"Ah, well maybe not plug in. You seem more advanced than that. That's very fortunate though, that you aren't reliant upon an... outside source. Of..." Ava swallows, remembers her own lack of access to what she needs to survive. "Energy. Do you at least have somewhere safe, to take your breaks? The roommate situation is rather unfortunate. I was originally assigned to share with some strange man. I tossed him out in the hallway. And then he disappeared from the ship entirely."

He will file that away for later. Just.. something for him to keep in mind.

"Certainly, if you're offering to stand there while I smell all the teas." He'd actually like that, and even if he can't drink it, he does enjoy holding mugs that are hot. Feels nice against his metal fingers. "There's probably one I'd like, I'm sure."

"You tossed him out?" He laughs, because that's one way to solve that problem. "I haven't actually seen them, but the bed changes and they have items in the room so they must be somewhere. I've been avoiding being there, but I should probably try and find whoever it is."

He's not even sure how he would do that other than camping out in his cabin for days and planning to be attacked when someone showed up and found it occupied by someone else.

"I haven't needed to yet, I'll deal with that problem when the time comes."

As in: no. He does not have a safe place to shut down and he's just going to never sleep again and hope things work out fine.

"No, I was imagining sitting. And us both smelling all the teas," Ava offers. "And I might steal a few sips, unless that's too rude. I'll do it pinky out and all." Ava's aware there's a whole British tea culture, a proper way to do things that involves tiny sandwiches and sugar dishes. She's never cared all that much about etiquette.

But. "Sleeping with a man I don't even know? Of course I did. He looked like some sort of creep," which is honestly how she would describe any sort of white man above the age of 20 showing up in her room unannounced.

"Yours might not be so bad," Ava ponders. "If you can figure out their schedule, when they're out and busy..." she could offer to stalk, find out for him. But he doesn't seem too overly concerned about it. And she trusts he knows how to care for himself, when the time comes and all. "Still, it'd be nice to have a place to store your belongings." If he had any.

She slides the cards into a messy sort of pile that she attempts to straighten out, tapping the deck on one side and then the other to get the edges neat.

He hums in consideration, because while he might feel slightly foolish sitting in a public place smelling a bunch of teas, he'd feel even more ridiculous doing it in his world. This might be his only chance to do something so domestic and relaxing. He really should seize the opportunities to do all the things he's unable to in his world for whatever reason.

"I don't think you're required to do that when you drink tea. And if you are, I won't tell if you don't." voice conspiratorial, your etiquette secrets are safe with him.

"First I'd need to get some belongings. I still have only what I arrived with. No one has seen fit to grant me pop culture figures that dispense candy, perhaps in the future. And I really should try and find whoever I'm supposed to be rooming with, they must be somewhere." Maybe he'll get some sort of D.va branded energy drink dispenser.

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decohere - 2022-05-17 08:53 (UTC) - Expand

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makesomedeals - 2022-05-18 03:58 (UTC) - Expand

We're wide awake now, our eyes are wide open. We're running this world, we keeping it turning

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Maybe my only chance to use these icons...

nice

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