listen to your heart 😌

[parrygripp]

"Can You Handle Your Emotions?"

Emotions are... eh. We all have them, whether we want to or not. Some people have control over their emotions, and some people let their emotions control them. Where does your character fall on this spectrum? More importantly, what's their relationship with their emotions like? Do they bury everything deep, deep down inside, or are they the first one to cry over a sappy movie? Do they even know how they feel about what's going on inside? Pretty meta stuff.

• No blank top-levels.
• Instead, characters are to respond to the proposed question: can you handle your emotions? / are you in touch with your feelings?
• Get deep. Look within. Hear, think feel... or don't.

Comments

[fuck1ngusernam3]

[Hank makes a wordless, derisive noise. It's a nice thing to say. Markus seems like the kind of guy who does that, says nice things just because, but that doesn't mean Hank has to let it pass by without calling it out -- even just casually -- as bullshit.]

I don't know about that. You came to me for advice and I told you to be grateful you're so stressed. I'd be kinda pissed off.

[He leans an elbow on the arm of the couch, setting his cheek in his hand.]

Who'd take over if you had to take off for a week or two? Or go on... half-time, or whatever, only on call for emergency stuff? You think you could swing something like that?

[ineedyourhelp]

[Markus smiles again, everything Connor had told him about his friend has been true. The deflections, the grouchy replies.

He is beginning to understand Connor's fierce loyalty to the man.] But I'm not pissed off. This is something I have to do, what they need me to do.

[Markus slowly shakes his head.] I can trust Connor, and by extension you. But I wouldn't take you both from the job that you love.

[fuck1ngusernam3]

Yeah, I mean I'm sure Connor'd want to help out if you asked. But I was thinking some of the other guys you work with, if one of them could take over -- even just like, a few hours a night. You guys don't have to stop to sleep, right? You take breaks?

[He turns his head enough that the hand on his cheek can rub at the little hint of a hangover pulsing behind his temple, frowning at Markus. He feels like he does nothing but take breaks, even now; if he could give some of that to these guys, guys like Markus and the android recruits just starting out at the station who think they can just go and go and go without burning out, then they'd stop once in a while and he'd be able to go just a little harder and everyone would be better off. Too bad that's not the way it works.]

[ineedyourhelp]

We've never had the opportunity before. [Not a rebuke as much as a fact. Carl did allow him time to paint, to experiment with chess or music, but his experience was rare among his kind.

Markus rubs his jaw thoughtfully before returning to pet Sumo, who had melted into his lap, snoring. What a picture of comfort the dog was. He starts to understand why Connor is so fond of Hank and Sumo.]

I don't think I'd know what to do. I don't know that any of us would.

Maybe it's something else that we need to learn with our new freedom.

[fuck1ngusernam3]

It definitely is. Especially the guys who are gonna' be working nine-to-fives. But, look, you came to me to figure out how to deal with the pressure, right? Part of that's just...

[He shakes his head, trying to figure out how to sum up the first thing he told Markus to do. Then he shrugs.]

You gotta know how lucky you are to get to feel like shit about it at all. But the other part of that is, you've got to know when to stop fucking doing it. Even just for like, a couple hours. Even when things were, uh... as busy as they were going to get, I used to get up before a night shift and get in the middle of a mosh pit and scream my lungs out, then drive straight to the station and clean up in the bathroom and go back to work. You've got to have something, something that doesn't have dick to do with any of the rest of it, or you're gonna burn out. I'm pretty sure that's just as true for you guys as it was for all the rookies I used to bitch at back in the day.