[006 | VIDEO]

[spah]

[What's up, Lunatia. It's your Texan scientist boy back at it again. He's in his engineering workshop, drinking a Lunatian beer. He's also got a new prosthetic hand. In fact - there's several robotic hands of all kinds of shapes and sizes hanging off the wall behind him. Neat.]

Y'think... hypothetically, birthdays still count 'round here? In a time-space alternate dimension sorta way.

Like if I had a birthday here - again, hypothetically - would that still count as gettin' a year older back home, too?

[He takes another pull from his beer... then shrugs.]

Reckon I'd have to run the numbers.

[ftr this is post is mostly an excuse to not-so-subtly hint that my made-up birthday for Engie is this month]

Comments

[loungelizard]

[It's a good name and you should be proud of it.]

Huh. Noted...

[No he doesn't sound immediately distracted, that's just your imagination...]

[spah]

You okay, there?

[what has he done]

action baybee

[loungelizard]

[It's time to get ghosted, Engie.

Or maybe not?

Like an hour later Larry drops by unannounced to Dell's shop, calling out once he gets inside:]

Delivery here for one Mister Dell Conagher!

[Except he's...empty-handed?]

[spah]

[Engie looks up at the open shutter doors from - where else, his workbench. Like he's not there 24/7. He quickly covers up his current project with a dirty, oil-stained cloth as he gets up out of his seat.]

Je-sus, you scared me.

[But also... uh??]

Uh... delivery?

[loungelizard]

Yep!

[Larry looks around and invites himself to the closest clear counter space that he can find. He reaches into his jacket and pulls out...a full six-pack of Moon Juice and places it on the counter.

And a second one.

And a third one.

And a fourth one.

And a fifth one.

Larry admires his pyramid stack of beer for a second and nods at it in approval.]

Yeah, that oughta do it.

[spah]

[... Okay, damn.

Engineer quirks an eyebrow.]

I'll be damned.

[He grins, but - first thing's first. He gestures to Larry's jacket.]

That some kinda magic situation?

[Infinite Inventory Space is not uncommon in the Team Fortress 2 world, so honestly. Engie could be MORE surprised.]

[loungelizard]

Oh, nah. It's just something I can do.

[As if that actually answers the question.]

I don't know if you wanted to celebrate the occasion with others or just yourself, but whatever you do with these after this point is up to you!

[He giggles.]

[spah]

Hmh.

[Look, Engineer's a man of insatiable curiosity, but he knows Infinite Inventory Space when he sees it. He won't question.

Anyway. More importantly, he looks to his new pyramid of beer. He looks back up to Larry still smiling.]

Might kind of ya.

[loungelizard]

[Larry doesn't think it's weird, even though he's aware that most other people can't do it...]

Anything for a friend.

[Larry rests an elbow on one of the lower six-packs and props up his chin.]

Did you decide one way or another on that question you asked earlier?

[spah]

[Engie takes out of the bottles to pop the top off. Technically, they're not twist-offs... but he's also got a robot hand so who cares.]

Mmh.

[He shrugs.]

Reckon the whole idea falls in line with a theory most folks have here. Back home, time's technically... frozen. Whenever we get back, we'll be un-frozen, and it's like time ain't even passed.

[loungelizard]

[Larry taps his fingers against his jaw as Dell explains the situation. To be honest, he never even thought about it. After waking up in the 21st century without having aged with a totally different face, being subsequently whisked off to an alien planet barely pings him as bizarre.

So he has to ask, because he has no idea what the answer should be:]

How do you feel about that?

[spah]

Surreal, I supposed.

[Said between a pull.]

On one hand, I guess I'm relieved I'm not missin' out back home. I got pulled out of... well, a pretty darn big cliffhanger. [He sighs.] I got folks relying on me.

So assumin' that theory's correct, I ain't lettin' 'em down yet.

[loungelizard]

[Oh, that explains it. Is that how everyone else feels about their situations too...?]

What kind of cliffhanger?

[spah]

[Engineer hesitates for a moment.

... Well. It wouldn't completely give things away if he talked around it.

His beer comes down.]

A woman was dying on me.

[loungelizard]

[Well, damn. That definitely explains it.

Larry drops his hand as the severity of the situation reveals itself to him.]

...What happened?

[spah]

[Oof. That's even weirder territory. Engineer doesn't mind telling this part too much, but he's not sure how much of it to explain.]

She didn't have long left to begin with. About a year tops. Then she... overdosed on the stuff that was keepin' her alive when I wasn't lookin'. Gives you a hell of an edge when you take a lot of it... problem is, it kills you quicker.

[He shakes his head.]

Long story short, I was lookin' after her about six months, and she and I both knew we were comin' to the end of the line.

[loungelizard]

[His eyebrows raise as Engie goes into further detail. He's quiet, for a moment. Contemplative.]

...You just want to be there for her.

[An attempt to boil it down to its essence, with the limited information he has.]

Who is she to you? Wife, girlfriend, blood relative--?

[spah]

[Engie pauses at that. He takes another drinks, then glances sideways.]

... Suppose so.

[It was just another job around the time he agreed to help her. He'd also be lying if he said he didn't want to see the whole mess through with her. But at the same time, six months is a long time to get to know someone - even someone who used to berate you over an intercom daily.]

Technically? My boss.

[loungelizard]

[Larry huffs out a half-laugh.]

Can't say I've ever heard of overtime like that before.

[He doesn't mean to make light of the situation, necessarily, but it still captures the essence of that's an awfully intimate thing to offer your boss.]

[spah]

[Okay. Engie snorts at that.]

Trust me. You're preachin' to the choir, hoss.