driftfleet | JULY PLANET MINGLE

Entry tags:

JULY PLANET MINGLE

Who: YOU. ME. EVERYONE.
Broadcast: IF YOU WANT
Action: YEAH!!!!!
When: July!

[Congratulations to the crews that did not get themselves blown up! Welcome to the Blue Planet, a planet full of charming islands and even less charming weather patterns! Are you going to take the time to enjoy the beach? Help out with the local Nunnilis population? Get caught in a storm with another person and have a rating boosting sexual tension moment? The world's your oyster!]

[Yeah in other words: ITS A MINGLE GET IN HERE]

[July Planet Info!]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[they've hung out and talked about books once, so that makes them buddies, in Nel's mind. he doesn't bother with a greeting or a warning to announce his approach when he sees her chilling with a book on the beach.

he just ambles on up to her side--gnawing on a bit of rind from something like a coconut, with a little sunburn backing up all his freckles--and peers down at the cover of her book for a moment, to see if he recognizes it.]

--Ooh, is that from the library? Is it any good?

[It's been a while since they talked and it was only the one time. So, truth be told, when Nel comes up next to her and starts talking to her, she doesn't recognize him at all. At least, not enough to remember his name. In fact, she's mentally scrambling, trying to remember what his name was before it has to come up in conversation. She's trying to remember where she saw him, hoping that might jog her memory, but she's not finding it.]

[And then suddenly, right the library. He was one of the ones that interrupted her reading. There were a number of people who did that that day, so the name still is not coming to her. Well, hopefully it won't come up.]

It's fine, [she says, clearing her throat in mild embarrassment and lowering the book into her lap in a relatively smooth motion and closing it so the back cover is the only thing showing.] I didn't get it from the library, however. It was a gift from someone else.

[thank his photographic elven memory. without it, he'd be just as lost as all of the other one-time acquaintances he tends to surprise like this.

and he's still going to lean down a little and tilt his head, to see if he can read the back cover from there.]

Oh really? That's pretty cool.

What's it about?

[She doesn't bother to answer. She just turns the book so he's not reading the back cover at an awkward angle. More or less the main characters are pretending to betrothed and she's using him with blackmail, but it's a romance novel. There's only one way it's going to end.]

[She'd really like to know why the heck everyone is so invested in what she's reading, but keeps this complaint to herself.]

[it takes him... far longer than it should to look over the back cover and read enough to get the gist of what it's about. and even when he does grasp most of it, his brow furrows a little over what seems to be a very important concept to the rest of the plot.]

...What does 'bet-roth' mean? [with that second syllable rhyming with 'moth.']

Betroth, [she corrects, almost gently. At least as gently as Cassandra can be.] It means that you are to be married. With nobility, it is usually arranged, but not always.

--Oh.

[the little lightbulb goes on! he knows of the concept, even if the word is not terribly familiar. and maybe not quite in the form that he's most aware of.]

Like child brides?

[Her brow furrows.]

Arrangements may be made that children will be married once they are of age, but not while they are still children.

Oh... guess that's called something else, then?

It has no particular term beyond child marriage.

Oh.

...So, not the same thing, then.

Not at all.

Oh.

[WELP. now he looks awkward. he rubs the back of his neck and straightens up a little more properly so he isn't leaning over her and the book anymore.]

So... the ones in this story are...?

[While it's true that Cassandra can be incredibly impatient at times, she can also be the exact opposite to a staggering degree as she is now in explaining the premise of the book.]

They are both adults. The Lady Olivia's been married once before.

[it's more patience than he deserves, really.]

And she's being given to someone else?

She isn't being given to anyone. She is only pretending to be betrothed.

Oh, right.

Because of... blackmail?

[he's trying hard.]

Yes. It's not the most original story, but it is well-written.

You must really like reading, huh?

[and he... kind of looks her over, as if he's just now realizing what she's wearing.]

Is that all you do? [--and it's actually a genuine question, coming from him. not pointed at all.]

Read? No. It's my preference when there is time to spare, but I have not had the luxury of it for a while.

Oh yeah? Been real busy with stuff?

This planet seems like one of those places that you can just, like... lose a whole bunch of time on without realizing it.

I have mostly been assisting in construction projects where I can.

Oh, yeah...

[sure, that's totally what he meant.]

I guess there's a lot of work and stuff around here to do, huh?

[which he has totally been helping out with. totally.]

I assume you have spent most of your time on the beach then.

[There is flat, obvious disapproval.]

Um--

[his eyes widen, as it dawns on him what he's walked into.]

I've been kind of... wandering around, checking things out... seeing what's all going on...

(no subject)

openhands - 2015-08-05 00:14 (UTC) - Expand

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only