driftfleet | (no subject)

Entry tags:

(no subject)

Who: Zhas & You!!
Broadcast: None (probably)
Action: Planetside OR Red Fish
When: Forward dated to the 31st, late at night

► PLANET-SIDE

[back home, Zhas had a long-standing tradition of not working on Halloween. he gets totally into it. he puts on his best "normal person" costume and goes out and parties and drinks and talks to the locals like he actually belongs there. it's the one day a year he doesn't obsessively hunt down monsters or worry about his slowly-decaying family.

he may be lightyears away from home, on a planet with no vampires or any proper Halloween festivities, but like hell he's going to let that get in the way of his traditional day off. he can be found hanging around town, dressed in a nondescript black shirt, not covered in weapons, and not wearing any facepaint. he might be kind of hard to recognize--though his eyes are still glowing an unsettling, jack-o-lantern orange under the dim, clouded night sky.

oh, and there's blood on his face. his nose was bleeding, or something. he apparently hasn't noticed. actually, to be completely honest, he's kind of having trouble noticing that he's going to run into things until he nearly stumbles over them. once or twice he has to like, hold his hands out to navigate around a lamp-post. dude's pretty drunk.]

► RED FISH

[...unless you're on the Red Fish. he's cleaned up his face, but he's sort of tipsily putting ingredients together in the kitchen and messing around with the microwave? seriously, he accidentally brushed flour off on his shirt, like, what is he even doing. this is probably how fires start.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[She's been doing a lot of outdoors roving and exercising and drinking and exploring since they hit planetside, soooo... isn't Zhas lucky that fate dumps him in with his captain even when he's just innocently getting crUNK on his birthday?

Anyway. Hange is heading back to the ships, he's heading away, and destiny pulls the strings! She automatically moves to bump him upright when they cross paths and he stumbles, though she doesn't immediately recognize him as grumpy crewman. That will last for about three seconds before she notices the ember eyes.]

Woah, easy there.

[this whole stumbling incident ends with him a) grabbing onto her arm with one hand for stability and b) squinting at her and trying to figure out who he's just bumped into.]

...Oh.

[yeah good job buddy really off to a great start here.]

Oh -

[Suddenly her face is in his face because she recognizes that voice, like being dragged backwards over sandpaper. Grinning!]

Look who it is!

[he has startlingly little reaction to having her face right in his face. really, he just kind of squints at her.]

Hi.

[That's good, because she leans in even a bit closer and actually sniffs at him - channeling one of her comrades and his weird habit here, if Zhas but knew.]

Hmmm. Been hitting the bottle, eh?

[this is actually very normal to him, so he--without even thinking about it--sniffs her back. before he explains, in that dead monotone of his.]

It's my birthday.

[That's precious in its own weird aberrant-human way, and not unfamiliar. It makes her laugh!]

Happy birthday, skull! How old did you turn? And are you coming or going?

[he lets go of her arm so that he can look down at his hands... deciding that he cannot possibly get to the right number with the number of fingers that he has.]

Twenty... four. [and then he points past her. he's going. that way. probably.]

I'll come with you! [He seems chattier than normal... such as it is... so she won't pass this opportunity up.]

Okay.

[he shrugs. sounds fine to him. it's bizarre, his usual animosity is almost completely gone! even his default, disapproving expression seems to have eased up some. he starts wandering towards the city again, though he doesn't have an end destination in mind.

he's kind of just enjoying... existing. having a body. being physically present in a world filled with stars. none of which he would explain out loud, of course.]

[She lets him be for minutes at a time. This is pleasant! Why can't he be like this all the time?]

Are you going to drink this time?

[and he doesn't seem bothered by conversation! his talking tone doesn't sound very natural, but at least he's not treating it like a big hardship.]

Yes. I'm not working today.

[aaand then he drunkenly smacks his hand against the back of her shoulder.]

Do you know about Halloween. [...was that supposed to be a question, or...?]

[He catches her by surprise enough that she misses a step and grunts a little. She recovers quickly, though!]

Nope. What is it?

[he pats her shoulder a little after that, but it's abundantly clear that it's just because he's drunk and doesn't really have much authority over what his limbs are doing. speaking of which--he narrowly avoids walking right into a stand and barely seems to notice.]

It's a holiday. From... Earth? It's today too. People dress up in costumes...

[She laughs and whacks him on the shoulder back, then reaches for his elbow to start helping with the steering.]

So you're dressed up with your human face, huh? You've really been at it...

[hearing the little "oof" come out of him as he tips forward is, in itself, probably a treat. he does not object to being led around--barely even notices--because he's busy smiling about her getting it right about his face.

his smile is... not a warm smile. it's cold and soulless and creepy. but since that just seems to kind of be the way he is at everything, maybe it's fine. all he's got in response to her is a nod.]

[She knows so many soulless, creepy people... it hardly even makes a dent, really. Hange can be pretty creepy herself. She just looks friendly.]

Lucky you, we have all the free booze you could want for your celebration! Do you have a place you like?

Nah. [he shakes his head. it's all kind of the same around here.]

Me neither. [You know, she's just gonna steer him into the first dive bar that seems acceptable, then.]

[he goes in without a problem. and, you know, he does a remarkably good job of blending in, even drunk. bumps into someone, apologizes and smiles and goes on his way, straight to the bar whether or not Hange is following him or not.]

[She follows him, of course, chuckling to herself a little as he makes like a normal human. And then she takes a seat next to him, at least if he sits at the bar.]

You look like you're having a good time.

[yeah, he takes a seat. there's still room. he nods--shortly before yawning into the back of his hand. it's silly and human. his attention gets snatched up by everyone buzzing around next to them, out on the floor...]

[In the meantime, HAnge will order them both drinks. The horrible drinks. She pushes one glass over in front of him when the glasses come in.]

This reminds me of home!

[he wordlessly takes what he's been handed--she could have ordered him a glass of drain cleaner and he would have had a drink of it without even looking. whatever this horrible stuff is, he sucks it down like it's nothing.

a quarter of the glass down, he follows up, looking back at her.]

How?

[Ah, she's midway on her own deep swallow of the foul alcohol so there's a moment's delay before she responds - though respond she does.]

I'm a soldier, you know! We used to drink together like this. The quality was about as good. [laugh.]