uncivil engineer

What? [RED Engineer OC. Currently stationed at Barnblitz.]

[areadenial-blog]

-someone is poking their head into your workshop- :l

*Someone else is busy not paying attention to the door. He hears it open, just slightly, but doesn’t acknowledge it in hopes whoever is there will go away.*

[fullmetaljarhead-blog]

*That stare makes Marco worried for a second that Cooper’s going to call him out on the reference. It’s not his fault his mom is a sucker for musicals! Luckily he doesn’t seem to catch it.*

Yeah? Never got stationed at one of the desert bases myself, but I’m from Arizona, so I kinda grew up in one. This place is alright, I guess. The food’s pretty bad but then when isn’t it? Beats Army grub anyway.

[areadenial-blog]

I was going to say you're lucky, but I suppose not. I grew up in New York, so I'm sure I would've living in a wasteland like that. A few months was more than enough.

-Surprisingly enough, Cooper actually looks vaguely interested at the mention of army food. He shifts his weight slightly.-

You were in the Army? The real Army, I mean. Not... whatever this is considered.

[fullmetaljarhead-blog]

*Marco crosses his arms and frowns a bit. He doesn’t get why this guys seems so prickly. They’re gonna have to work together, right? So why not at least be friendly?*

Well just… you know. I was just thinking typical shit. Like that Julie Andrews song?

*That’s a slightly embarrassing reference, so he barrels on through it.*

They sure transferred a lot of you in at once. Are you all from the same base?

[areadenial-blog]

-Cooper stares at him, unblinking. Don't worry, Marco, your embarrassing reference flew right over Coop's head. At least for now.

He waits a beat and then shrugs. He hadn't particularly noticed how many people got transferred; then again, he also didn't really care about anyone else making the move. Off the top of his head, he could name two. Maybe.-

Not that many. But yes, we are. We were stationed in the desert before this- Upward, southern Nevada, middle of nowhere. Far as I'm concerned, Barnblitz is a step up.

[fullmetaljarhead-blog]

Oh.

*He blinks.*

It’s not even that hard to remember, man! Marco! See, just five letters. And you’re not eating or working or whatever now, so what’s the hurry?

[areadenial-blog]

-Cooper halts, hopefully for the last time, and shuts his eyes. Marco reminds him of Robert, and that makes bile rise in the back of his throat. He's not really sure what he did to attract these people.

But Robert did say, once, that he should have allies. Swallowing his irritation, he turns around and walks toward Marco, stopping at a cautious ten feet away or so.-

...Marco.

Fine. I'm not, you're right. But I will be in the near future. So whatever bonding you've got in mind, I'd suggest you get the ball rolling.

[areadenial-blog]

fullmetaljarhead replied to your post:Hey little man! Up top! *Yes Cooper he is holding his hand too high just to see if you'll jump to high five it.*

*He looks genuinely disappointed.* Aw come on, man! I’m just saying hey! You know, new teammate bonding…?

-Cooper stops and sighs dramatically.-

Fine.

-He turns around, arms crossed over his chest, and draws a deep breath.-

Cooper Nguyen; Engineer. I'm not going to remember your name so don't bother. My workshop is off limits, especially when I'm in there. Don't bug me there, while I'm eating, while I'm in my room, or when we're on the field unless it's important. Got it? Good, we bonded.

-He gives him a brief wave and then turns around again, poised to leave.-

[areadenial-blog]

Hey little man! Up top! *Yes Cooper he is holding his hand too high just to see if you'll jump to high five it.*

-Cooper stares at him. If he honestly thinks he's going to try and high five him (god forbid actually jump to reach), Marco is sadly mistaken.-

No.

-He turns and starts to walk away.-

[pl-upward-blog]

Okay guys! So just as a refresher, here are the ideas people have come up with so far for things to possibly happen to help pick up interest:

"Team building exercise" to help build morale and foster teamwork (but probably mostly annoy everyone) and give us something lighthearted to do after all the trauma of the evaluations. It was brought up that it might make more sense for this to be something one or more of the Medics come up with, as opposed to the Administration, since as we all know Ms Bathory is a monster and she hates fun.

Our mercs getting time off to visit family and the like. This could have the consequence of limiting who our mercs interact with, but also allow for a change of pace and some exploration of their lives outside of TFI.

An environmental event, such as a sand storm. Has to potential to be exciting and scary!

An off base trip for the mercs, perhaps to Las Vegas. This would also probably be something the mercs would plan themselves, but it could create lots of possibilities for fun shenanigans.

Please let me know what you think, and if you have any additional ideas, share those as well! 

Thanks guys!

[manofmedicine-moved-blog]

Very good ideas! I am open to all of these. For the first one, I could see Gun suggesting it since he seems like someone who would (and is also a medic). Other than that little tidbit, I ain’t got nothin’ to add. All of ‘em sound good to me. 

[excitable-mediums]

I got to admit that the first thing that came to mind with the first one was “This sounds like something Gun would make everyone do”  :Y

[donny-american-dragon]

it was actually Quincy who came up with the idea, or expanded it from the anon suggestion, and she was thinking James might suggest it, since he’s a therapist it’d be right up his alley

I can totally see Gun and some of the other medics jumping on board with it tho :3

[areadenial-blog]

its ok really gun can do it it seems more like something hed do anyway and if other people think its a good idea then he should go for it

[areadenial-blog]

Hey there! Looks like we're sharin' a workshop!

…Oh, yeah. Looks like we are. Great.

-He sighs, but manages to feign a smile.-

Cooper Nguyen. Nice to meet you.

[hillcountry-hippie-hardhat]

Oh, she’s a peach! I owe her a lot. But thank you! Hmm well, let’s see…

*She puts a finger on her chin thoughtfully.*

I put screwdriver attachments on the fingers, comes in real handy for fiddly work when you don’t got much elbow room, you know? And there’s a vibration function that has a variety of practical uses.

*She’ll just let the other Engineer take that as he will. He’s asking her about one of her favorite places in the world, and she can’t pass up an opportunity to gush.*

Oh yeah, I loved it! Austin’s a beautiful place man, full of beautiful people. I stuck out a bit in the engineering department, but i didn’t mind none. It was worth it, gettin’ to work with the people i did, and gettin’ to be part of the scene.

[areadenial-blog]

Oh, that's... pretty sensible, actually. I guess if you're going to store extra tools anywhere, it may as well be somewhere convenient. I can't really imagine what you'd use a vibration feature for-

-He stops short and swallows hard. Oh. Well. His jaw tenses a little and he can feel the heat rising in his face. Cooper could have definitely lived on without knowing that. Especially since he just got through rubbing his hand all over the thing. Embarrassed, he jams his hands into his pockets and opts to forget about the whole thing.-

Never been there, but it sounds nice. California was...

-He considers this. He never really liked it much, honestly.-

Well, you'd probably like it. I grew up in New York, though, so it was strange. School was decent enough. I don't think I liked it as much as you liked yours, though.

[sourcandykisses-a]

Don't you want me || Cooper/Max

[areadenial-blog]

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[areadenial-blog]

He grumbles under his breath and then sighs, visibly defeated. Max is lucky he doesn't have the energy to keep arguing with her tonight. Besides- he knows how stubborn she is, just from the little time they've know each other. And that's almost as stubborn as he is himself. It's hard to fight that, and he knows how it ends; with both of them just standing their, glaring and unmoving. At least this route is more productive.

"Fine. You can stay, but... try not to talk or move or touch anything, okay? If you're really interested in seeing what I'm doing, you'll stay out of my way and let me work in peace."

[sourcandykisses-a]

Don't you want me || Cooper/Max

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[areadenial-blog]

"Well, you're the only other one in here, and you're neither an engineer or on RED, so I think I'm justified in saying it's mine for now." He stares at her for a few more seconds before looking away long enough to locate his wrench and pick it up. "Now, if you don't mind getting out of my so I can get back to this?"

He doesn't look particularly intimidating in his work gloves holding a wrench half as long as his forearm, but that won't stop him from hoping he scares her off. 

[areadenial-blog]

Hey there! Looks like we're sharin' a workshop!

…Oh, yeah. Looks like we are. Great.

-He sighs, but manages to feign a smile.-

Cooper Nguyen. Nice to meet you.

[hillcountry-hippie-hardhat]

Well, my buddy Taylor-you know her? She’s over on BLU. She built the first model, since only havin’ one hand kinda puts a damper on that. But it was my design she used, and I’ve added some features since then. 

*Willie beams with pride, enjoying his interest. Yes, her hand is pretty boss if she does say so herself.*

Thanks, man! I’m pretty pleased with it. I’ve been with TFI, let’s see, about two years. Before that I was at the University of Texas. What about you?

[areadenial-blog]

Taylor? Um, maybe... either way, that's pretty impressive. I've seen bigger teams do a lot less work in a lot more time... what kind of features? Does it do anything besides act as a hand?

-He wrinkles his nose a little then, without really thinking about it.-

Two years? Ugh... I've been here a few months and it already feels like a lifetime. Stanford, though, before this whole mess. But I've heard good things about UT as well, did you like it any?

[sourcandykisses-a]

Don't you want me || Cooper/Max

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[areadenial-blog]

He turns his back to her and resumes studying the barrel, hoping she'll get bored and leave. "Aside from the fact that you're not supposed to be on this base because you're on the other team, I care because this is my workshop, where I'm trying to actually get something done. Frankly, I don't care where you go, as long as it's away from me." He pauses to write something down on the blueprints spread across the bench beside him. "Besides, Willie probably isn't coming back tonight. All you're doing is wasting your time and mine."

[sourcandykisses-a]

Don't you want me || Cooper/Max

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[areadenial-blog]

It's not that he doesn't like his coworkers. Well... he doesn't hate them, at least. He's just always had trouble working in shared spaces, especially with people who're particularly... Willie-like. She's very sweet. A little optimistic for his taste, unfortunately. His fellow engineers grated on his nerves and made his focus waiver almost as much as Sheila had, before she switched teams. Lately, he'd simply started working in his room- but it didn't cut it, most of the time. Lack of tools, lack of space. So he'd sacrificed his sanity for the good of his work.

But tonight, the other RED engineers are nowhere to be found. It's quiet in the workshop, apart from a nearly silent mechanical hum and the sound of Cooper making small adjustments to the barrel of a sentry.

That is, of course, until a familiar voice nearly makes him jump out of his skin. He whips around to the source of the noise and frowns.

"Willie isn't here," he answers, setting his wrench down on his bench. "And you shouldn't be either."

[areadenial-blog]

Hey there! Looks like we're sharin' a workshop!

…Oh, yeah. Looks like we are. Great.

-He sighs, but manages to feign a smile.-

Cooper Nguyen. Nice to meet you.

[hillcountry-hippie-hardhat]

*Willie’s good natured friendliness will not be deterred. But she does take a step back and give him some room, holding up her metallic hand and flexing the fingers.*

Nice, ain’t it? Lost the real one in an accident back at Mountain Lab, so I built this one! It’s still a prototype, really, but I’m improvin’ it all the time.

[areadenial-blog]

-Well, well, well... okay, consider Cooper interested. He's not sure he's ever seen an electrical appendage of this kind of magnitude. He eyes it curiously and scratches his chin.-

You made this on your own? It looks like it runs pretty smoothly. It takes a lot of talent to make something as refined as this.

-He kind of wants to take it off her arm and pick it apart, but she probably needs it.-

How long have you been in engineering?

[areadenial-blog]

Hey there! Looks like we're sharin' a workshop!

…Oh, yeah. Looks like we are. Great.

-He sighs, but manages to feign a smile.-

Cooper Nguyen. Nice to meet you.

[hillcountry-hippie-hardhat]

*She grins and sticks out a hand.*

Willamina Lair, man, but everybody just calls me Willie. I’m lookin’ forward to some beautiful collaberations!

[areadenial-blog]

-He takes her hand, somewhat apprehensively.-

Willie, alright. Uh… I mean, yeah, sure. I haven’t really done a whole lot of… collaborating, per se, but sure. 

[hillcountry-hippie-hardhat]

*She shakes his hand vigerously, still beaming like a ray of sunshine. The habd that grips his is somewhat cold and metallic and has a very firm grip.*

Yeah? Well that is a shame. Never to late to start, though!

[areadenial-blog]

-Willie no, you'll frighten poor Cooper with your happiness. He's like a small, sensitive animal in that way.-

I suppose.

-He glances down at her hand then, raising his eyebrows.-

...So, what's the deal with your hand here? If you don't mind me asking.

[areadenial-blog]

Hey there! Looks like we're sharin' a workshop!

…Oh, yeah. Looks like we are. Great.

-He sighs, but manages to feign a smile.-

Cooper Nguyen. Nice to meet you.

[hillcountry-hippie-hardhat]

*She grins and sticks out a hand.*

Willamina Lair, man, but everybody just calls me Willie. I’m lookin’ forward to some beautiful collaberations!

[areadenial-blog]

-He takes her hand, somewhat apprehensively.-

Willie, alright. Uh... I mean, yeah, sure. I haven't really done a whole lot of... collaborating, per se, but sure. 

[areadenial-blog]

Hey there! Looks like we're sharin' a workshop!

...Oh, yeah. Looks like we are. Great.

-He sighs, but manages to feign a smile.-

Cooper Nguyen. Nice to meet you.