#sure for NASA their definition of life is good to know if they've find life outside earth (where you can't mesure/observe/experiment much)

[mantra4ia]

Debris: speculation and what we know so far about...

Bryan

The character is from Texas, has no siblings, and his parents are both alive.

He served in MARSOC (Marine Special Forces) in Afghanistan, where he was in a military prison in some capacity (officer or detainee unclear, but an alternate reality he's called a war criminal, so he's likely detained).

FWIW, I'm a little surprised that in an alternative reality Bryan wasn't a part of Influx. He shares a similar kind of backstory with Anson Ash.

He carries a baseball on the plane like a momento stress ball (1x03).

He eats...a lot, literally thinks with his stomach, seemingly indiscriminately (#you could just pull up a chair to the buffet). Stale Peeps, weeks old sandwiches, rewarmed burritos, anything from the minibar, etc. Maybe he was a smoker in the time before and it killed his sense of taste. Or he just has an iron stomach from his time on active duty. In any case, food seems to be his unconditional OTP. I request a GIF supercut.

He seems to know a bunch of field operatives (Lester, Sharon, John the ME, Muntz, Beck from containment) from various Orbital teams, perhaps even worked cases with a few, along with everyone in Maddox's office. He's very cordial so presumably he likes them, but in stark contrast at least half seem to decidedly dislike him with baiting antagonism, some openly hostile. Sharon: "why are you smirking at me Bryan?" Muntz, the Laghari lab tech: "I've come across plenty like you...men who play by their own rules." Beck: "They only send in the A-team when they want the agents to survive...easy for you to say, I'm the one who had to tell his wife". No wonder he feels a bit ostracized. Perhaps his reputation (impulsive?) proceeds him or perhaps he's been labeled an "unlucky" partner that misfortune follows so he gets kept at a distance?

The exception to the above seems to be Gary Garcia, the former scientist that helps hide George. May be former partners if the audio during credit rolls is any indication, and knows about Bryan's health / injections. They appear close. Perhaps because they share a mentality: both presumably injured in their line of work at Orbital, and they know what it means to have to rely on yourself.

When we meet Finola and Bryan, it seems like they've been working together for a few weeks, stateside at least (Finola's quote 1x02: Been here 3 weeks, feels like 3 years) and that he's had at least two Orbital partners prior, one (Julian / Jules) that died on duty, and the other creepy Dutch guy still living, Niels. How many more partners has he been through? Is it protocol that they get reassigned/shuffled so often to follow the debris, or so as not to form attachments "This job is about being alone, it's supposed to be...we're a blip in other people's lives", or does his personality not play well with others, like from the pilot when he tells Finola "it's been a long time since I've worked with somebody who's looked at me like another human being."

Also in 1x01 when Bryan says, "So are we now saying the debris pulled [Kieran] from the ground and added meat to his bones" and Finola says no, he was cremated, Bryan looks almost disappointed like he was momentarily more hopeful than pragmatic. At first I thought this was just a lead up to introducing the fact that George Jones was alive, but maybe another plot point is that Bryan has lost someone in duty he wants back.

He carries a picture in his front pocket of a woman with some Persian/ Farsi(?) or Urdu(?) written on the back. It's hard to tell by the script, it could be neither. When confronted by that, his clone says "I can't let it go." Old flame that was lost? Or a partner of a fallen service member killed in action —I've lost brothers— that he couldn't save (is that part of Bryan's dark guilt / grief)? Civilian casualty of a Marine mission? In the pilot when he tells Isla "you have to tell her how much you need her, I know from experience...You will not be able to forgive yourself if you don't" is Bryan thinking of this woman?

EDIT: considering the next episode is called "Asalah," which could be a woman's name, maybe that's part of the text on the back of the photo. Pure speculation.

He counts on himself to be level and composed when it comes to his emotions and apologizes when he isn't. He loses that composure in the pilot when Isla talks about family therapy and fighting with her mother after Kieran's death: "I knew someone like her once." Was Bryan referring to himself, has he been through post-service therapy? Perhaps he developed a rift with his family or left home at an early age like she did?

Bryan would be great at pub trivia night. He always seems to have an odd fact ready about NASA tech, native legends, an article about a historical building that he read, Fleetwood PA, etc. He doesn't seem the type to keep facts on standby to impress, so perhaps he's a secret bibliophile even though Finola hassles him for not reading case files.

"Fin: Maybe we should run some more tests before we continue/ Bryan: I will cut bait if you want to / Fin; let's just look out for each other" 1x02 Bryan seems more cautious than impulsive, he does a good job of listening to Finola's concerns. Is that from experience? Did he get overconfident, mishandle debris, and get permanently injured, hence the frequent blood work and injections?

"This man saved my life." Why does Bryan trust Maddox implicitly? And when Maddox says in 1x07 "Investigate quietly. I want to keep the lights off. I don't want to lose anymore lives, Bryan, okay?" is that a word of warning specially for him? Does he have a body count? (see afforementioned question of frequent work partners turnover and having an unlucky reputation)

Bryan in protective of Finola when the CIA taps her apartment. It's the straw that turns his allegiance from his agency to his partner.

I still can't place why Bryan carries a baseball — it seems like it could be a red herring, but I can't get over the visual of Maddox playing catch with Dario and reading into it as some sort of surrogate bond — or why he has a chain around his neck (1x05). It's not service tags and probably not a ring, it's some kind of pendant: a large loop encircling a dull, perhaps tarnished, gray metallic disc. A patron saint? A piece of shrapnel? A piece of debris? Unclear, but it definitely has texture or an etching.

Top Bryan Quotes

"That's the job. Impossible." 1x01 Pilot

"We are supposed to be blips in these people's lives, not memories." 1x04 In Universe

"It's been a long time since I've worked with somebody who's looked at me like another human being." 1x01

"Zippo lighters, Pyrex glassware, Crayola crayons, and of course Peeps. Insane for peeps, cracklike...we owe the people of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania a great deal of gratitude and I am not afraid to say it." 1x02 You Are Not Alone

"I've been thinking, [about] Finola.. if MI6 knew her father was still alive they would take her out of here. We need to get home before this becomes an issue...this is going to affect her." 1x03 Solar Winds, when he's not sure how her father will affect her empathetic-based decision-making

Craig: "You hated the creepy Dutch guy." / Bryan: "He was adorable."

"Well, one of my tips for survival, Muntz, is always let the other guy touch the debris first." 1x03 So is that what happened to Garcia?

To Finola "I realize I tend to forget that there's still magic to discover in the world. But not you." 1x03

"There are things that you understand about life that I don't, and I respect that. But there are things that I know that you will not find very palatable...I am going to focus on the people that we're saving and not the ones that we can't." 1x04

"If we don't act, we might not be able to stop the terraforming. There's no way we're going to be able to win all these, and I know that every cell in your body right now is screaming for you to do what you think is right. I need you to go against that. I need you to trust me." 1x04

"Finola's capable. I trust her instincts." 1x08 Spaceman

"I'm running on sugar and coffee for the rest of the day" 1x07 You Can Call Her Caroline, but really isn't that Bryan everyday?

"When I tell you that I understand, it's not empty...I lost brothers. It destroys families. There are people who can help you with what you're going through right now...There is a way to get back from this pain. I was where you were, and the darkness almost ended me. And somebody put out his hand... I want to be there for you." 1x07

"I'm trying to get back to someone. It's very important to me." 1x09 Do You Know Icarus?

[skeletorific]

Hello, may I request a fluff imagine/headcanon? How would UT and UF Sans (who I imagine are space nerds) react to finding out that their s/o (who they've recently started dating) works at a planetarium/observatory complex when the s/o takes them on a date there? They also tell them the reason they kept their work a secret is because they didn't want to appear like a huge nerd in front of the cool skele. Oh, and the skele can come by anytime as long as the s/o worns their boss beforehand

UT!Sans: Okay, it will be a MIRACLE if he doesn’t already know. Sans spends a lot of time at the planetarium. Given that monsters went Underground centuries ago their understanding of astronomy is way, waaay behind the times. He’s done his best with the sci-fi novels and occasional textbooks that fall into the dump, but it's very piecemeal and sometimes hard to tell what’s real and what’s just a sci-fi trope. After he and Papyrus get settled he spends a lot of time wandering and figuring out what he can. He’s relieved the moon landing was real (or was it…no its real).

He’s seen you a couple times but just assumed you were a regular like him (the dress code is basically just formal wear for you). You were pretty cute, and he ended up striking up a conversation after you’d ended up responding to his bad joke (”that solar system exhibit’s so nice I wanna put a ring on it”) with one of your own (”yeah, must’ve taken a long time to planet”). 

You’d talked for a while and he’d walked away for your number. Normally Sans isn’t the type to move fast but clearly, there was some kind of gravity at work here (heh) so it wasn’t long before you’d had a first date. Then a second.

Third date planning went something like this:

Sans: what do u think, brave enough to try Paps spaghetti again tonight?

You: as appealing as that sounds, I’ve got work late tonight :’(

Sans: nooo

You: yeah…

Sans: eh, it's okay. can always try for another night

A pause. And an idea struck you.

You: u know what? Meet me at the planetarium at 10 with some food.

Sans: ok?

Sans: u don’t have time to get to my house but have time to get to a closed planetarium in the middle of nowhere?

Sans: that sounded sarcastic tbh i’m sorry

You: you’re good xD. and trust me. it's a surprise ;)

Sans oooh~

He showed up at ten on the dot, not late for once and holding McDonald's. He looked around for you on the front steps when the locked doors opened and you were on the other side, trying to stifle an excited grin. “hey”

“uh, hey. How did you….” he smacked his forehead. “I’m an idiot. you work here?

”yeah. I mean, to be fair to you, I’m upper management, so I don’t wear the uniform.” You held the door open for him and he walked inside.

“still, might’ve picked up on it. how come you acted all mysterious about it?”

“I dunno.” You led him down the dimly lit hallway, shrugging. “its kind of nerdy, I guess? not like the glamourous nerdy, like NASA or something. Like, low budget never enough funding nerdy.”

“hey, what part of this made you think I wasn’t into nerdy?” He gestured to himself.

“I don’t know, it's dumb. and I’m hungry” You made a grab for the food and he pulled it out of your reach.

“hmm, I dunno..” His perpetual grin widened and he waved the bag tauntingly. “don’t know if secret keepers deserve food…”

You grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled him in for a brief kiss. He flushed bright blue and you took advantage of this to snatch the bag out of his hand and stuff some fries in your face.

“heh, you play dirty, kid”

“always”

“so what did you want me to see?”

“Same reason I had to stay late” You rolled up the bag to save the rest for later. “we’re opening a new special exhibit, and well…got special permission from my boss to give a special tour.”

“…..you didn’t”

“I did” You grinned

“you didn’t”

“come on” you grabbed his hand and pulled him along

It was a small theatre with about twenty seats in it. You led him to the front row and then dug around in your bag, pulling out two pairs of 3D glasses and handing one to him. “its this recreation of a satellite’s path. Goes out pretty far and the effects are fan-fucking-tastic” You sat down next to him

He wrapped an arm around your shoulder. “hey i think i’m in love with you, is that normal?”

You stuffed some fries in his mouth, smiling. “just don’t spill food, the janitor will murder me.”

You sat there in content silence for the full thirty minutes, listening to the narration as it took you on a tour of the galaxy. You’d seen the video a lot of times at this point and spent most of it watching him.

He looked like a kid at a theme park. It was honestly kind of adorable. Sans didn’t show open excitement often, but he was so lost in the film and the visuals that he wasn’t at all self-conscious about his facial expressions. His smile was wider than you’d ever seen it and he kept squeezing your shoulder whenever something particularly cool came on screen.

You settled against him. Enjoying the silence and the warmth, and the moment between you.

UF!Sans: “what is this uniform even for?”

“stop going through my clothes, ya creep,” you said, snatching the blue polo out of his hands and pulling it on.

“up until about five seconds ago you were naked but it's noticing the clothes that make me creepy” Red sat up and stretched, pulling back the blankets on the bed.

“no one ever said I made sense” You pulled on some dark slacks too, turning to the mirror leaning against the corner and trying to get your hair into something approaching decent shape. 

Red sidled up behind you and wrapped his arms around your waist, pressing toothy kisses along the crook of your neck. “sure you gotta go?”

“yeah, got work.” You smiled, humming softly at the attention.

“could call in sick…” His hands crept lower, towards your hips. “stay a little longer…”

You flushed and gently pulled his hands off.“ my boss would actually kill me.”

“trust me, your boss ain’t seen nothin like me yet” He grinned.

“hey, be nice to my boss, I actually like this job” You adjusted your shirt.

“like it so much you won’t even tell me what it is.”

“is it important that you know?” You pull on some shoes

“nah, just a weird thing for me to not know.” He rolled his neck, groaning softly.

“I’ll tell you someday” You pulled on a jacket and grabbed your keys.

“unless I find out first” He smirked sharply.

“that threat would be a lot more credible if you were wearing pants right now instead of just boxers”

“that a challenge?”

“take it how you will. I gotta go”

“hey” You turned your head to face him and he caught you in a slow, soft kiss. “have a good day”

You smiled. “yeah. you too.” And with that, you were out the door.

You’d been seeing Red for a couple months now. What the battle-hardened, rugged, smooth-talking skeleton saw in you you’d probably never know, but all that mattered right now was that his jokes made you laugh (even the bad ones) and his kisses left you weak at the knees. You’d be an idiot to give that up.

Which….is probably why you hadn’t told him about your job. Like, you hadn’t been actively hiding it or lying to him or anything. But you’d skirted questions and tried to avoid talking about anything that happened at work. Red was a badass. And you were slowly realizing that he was probably a genius too, based on what little he told you of his life Underground. And there was something kind of embarrassing about telling a person like that that your place of work was a planetarium gift shop.

As if you needed more reasons to feel inadequate next to him. You knew you were being kind of stupid about the whole thing, and you kept meaning to tell him. But every time you’d get so nervous about what he might say or think that you couldn’t make yourself.

Which was a shame, because you really did like your job. Sure, some of the customers could get a little annoying, and the pay wasn’t super great. But there were definite perks. Watching little kids chatter excitedly about planets and comets and asteroids to their parents/teachers. Getting to wander around the exhibits on your breaks and after work. Even the occasional chance to talk to guest speakers in between lectures. You were fascinated by space and space-related stuff. No interest in becoming an astronaut or even an astronomist but you loved the opportunity to learn in a more casual setting.

Still, by the end of your shift, you were ready to get home and clean up for your date. You and Red were planning on going to a movie.

One problem. You couldn’t find your keys.You dug around in your pockets, the break room, even the space behind the counter in case they fell out, but nothing. You searched for nearly forty-five minutes, making a general nuisance of yourself to the person who came to swap you out.

Your phone buzzed.

Red: where are you?

You: sorry, still at work, can’t find my keys. be home soon

Red: want a lift?

You: you don’t know where I am.

Long pause.

You: Sans-

Before you could send it you heard a familiar, amused voice behind you. “really should know better than to leave your location on, doll~”

You yelped, nearly dropping your phone as you whirled around. “Red-!”

“so, where are we-’ His voice dropped off and his eyes went wide as he took in his surroundings. 

Your face slowly grew redder. “I…..I know its nerdy and I swear I was gonna tell you eventually but…” Your voice died off as you realized he was chuckling. “….what’s so funny?”

“stars, doll.” He hooked his fingers under your chin and pecked you on the lips, eyes lidded. ‘if I believed in soulmates i’d say you’re getting pretty damn close to one.”

“….you’re into space?” Your cheeks felt like they might catch on fire but your heart leaped in your chest. 

“uh…” His turn to look slightly awkward. He rubbed the back of his head. “yeah, honestly. one of those interests I keep on the down low, but…yeah.”

“…do you want a tour-”

“yes”

The movie fell by the wayside (you found your keys in your car later on). You walked, handing hand through the planetarium, and got to watch as your gruff and tough boyfriend turned into a hyperactive twelve-year-old over all of it.

Comforting to know deep down, he was just as big a nerd as you are.