[ Video, Action ] Deuce of Clubs

[touchofrogue]

Who: Rogue and you! Yes, you.
Broadcast: Fleetwide
Action: Marsiva
When: Saturday afternoon

[A is for Unintentional Broadcasting (or action, if anyone's there)]
[When Rogue wakes on the Marvisa, the video picks up on her suddenly convulsing. It has been months since she has experienced her powers in full, and her mind is thrown into sudden, loud, throbbing pain. She is surprised that the internal chaos is not as bad as it has been, and after a moment she realizes why: she only has three psyches left, and they are all more or less friendly. After taking a few moments to settle down, Rogue sits up. She is woozy, distracted and disoriented. She goes to stand and overbalances, the missing appendages on her back throwing her off enough that she trips on a sheet and falls gracelessly to the floor.]

Oh for the love of -[she can hardly believe it, she reaches to her back to confirm: her wings are gone.]- what in the Sam Hill--

[At this point, the Network decides that further following Rogue Walking Around to Get her Bearings will be boring, and shifts to something else. Later, she comes back to the communicator not only to answer any return comments that her embarrassing swan dive might have drawn, but to address the fleet as a whole.]

[B is for Delibrate Broadcasting]
[While the communicators aren't set up like Luceti journals, Rogue gets the general idea. She sends out a video post.]

Uh - hi. My name's Rogue, an' I guess I'd like ta speak to the Welcoming Committee. I'm hopin' to get a little bit more than the 'Lost in Space' vibe up here. Speakin' of... anyone have any idea how to turn this music off? I swear it's killin' brain cells.

[A pause. Her gaze shifts downward, and she seems to be bracing herself before she looks back up and addresses the camera with a small smile and a wry, if slightly hopeful light in her eyes.]

Guess I should throw some names out there, just to see if anythin' will stick. Anyone ever hear of... a group called X-Men, say? [A gloved hand reaches up to wrap around a deep green crystal pendent hanging from her neck.] Or a place called 'Luceti'?

[Another awkward pause. She's got a LOT OF EMOTIONS right now, okay, and she's not sure what else to say or do. She kind of hates throwing her hopes out to space like this, but what other choice did she have, really? She gives the camera another quick, small smile.]

Thanks.


[Rogue stretched. She was standing on a narrow railing in the Hospitality Deck - just standing. She hadn’t tried walking yet. She was still not used to this strange feeling of being without her wings. Her balance was off when she moved, when she stood… it would take her a few days to get used to it, maybe longer. She’d get used to it, though. If there was one thing all her experiences had taught her, it was that you could adapt to anything.

Her wings. Her wings were gone. She'd been left with two narrow scars running a lurid red down her back. She could access Logan and heal them, easy, she thought. But right now they were a physical reminder that she hadn't lost her mind completely. She could use that. She felt… oddly adrift (ha ha, and she couldn’t even blame Kurt for that). Even when she’d come into Luceti, Kurt and Kitty had been there. She didn't know what to do. She was alone and afraid... and already lonely.

She took her first step forward and wobbled, much to her frustration, and then another step. She didn’t fall - not yet - but it would be all right if she did. Rogue knew how to fall. She’d just take it one step at a time.]

Comments

[touchofrogue]

[...okay, not the strangest or the worst news she could have heard, but Rogue still does a double-take.]

What? Really?

[She glanced around the spotless ship. She always knew the Malnosso observed them in Luceti, but this was a whole other level of hair-raising weirdness.] A reality show of us doin' what, exactly?

[zessica]

Living. Interacting. [She takes another bite.] Dealing with this stuff?

[Zessica just shrugs.] From what I gathered, we'll be sorted on to smaller ships soon. There's people already on those, so who knows where we'll end up.

[touchofrogue]

[Rogue assimilates this information thoughtfully. She still has a lot of questions - not the least as to how the unpredictable nature of her powers would mix with such close quarters. Something about the way Zessica is speaking grabs her attention, though.]

Not your first rodeo, then? I mean - [she waves a gloved hand around vaguely.] - all this?

[zessica]

[She sort of chokes on her noodles, before shaking her head.] Geez! This is totally weird! Don't get me wrong. I freaked out at first, actually. But home's actually pretty weird, too, when you think about it.

[Zessica coughs a little to clear her throat.] For a while back home, there were machines and people from another world kidnapping people from ours. So different worlds and dimensions aren't that hard to get my head around.

[touchofrogue]

[Rogue blinks. And blinks again. She quietly slides her untouched water over to Zessica.]

I guess from machines kidnappin' people to another world this ain't too much of a stretch, yeah. [Pause a bit, a cautious mention of her own experiences.] Still, you'd think people'd have better things ta do then kidnap unwilling participants ta do -- whatever.

[She glances around the ship again. And she can't forget - out of the Marvisa, there were real stars.]

I mean, does anyone even know where we are? How did they find us, anyway?

[She's not really expecting an answer, she's more thinking out loud.]

[zessica]

[The water's grabbed and sipped hurriedly, with a nod in thanks. She clears her throat before responding. Man, that was embarrassing.] Well, there was some other stuff, but yeah.

[How would she even begin to explain all that? Zessica follows Rogue's gaze, before shrugging a little.]

I dunno. If we really want to think about it, why us in particular? [She pauses briefly, spinning more noodles around her fork.] Thinking on it too much'll just drive us crazy right now.

[touchofrogue]

[Rogue shook her head a little. She felt like focusing on the impossible things was easier than dealing with the reality that once again she had been ripped away from everything she ever knew - again! She was even farther away from home, even farther away from the ones she'd lost. It hadn't been so bad, at Luceti. She'd had family there. And the people had been a hell of a lot nicer than the ones on Earth, by and large.]

So. A TV show, huh? Think they'll put us in a little box and make us talk about our feelings?

[zessica]

[Having put down the water, she exhales loudly with a sigh. Maybe a little overdramatic.]

Who knows? If they want me to, I've got no qualms about sharing. [Zessica takes another bite of food. Despite the circumstances, she's hungry, and the grub's not bad.]

[touchofrogue]

[Rogue picks up her fork and stabs a bit too aggressively at her food.

She mutters:] I wouldn't mind givin' them a piece of my mind right now either.

[...this is not being very good company, she may eventually realize. She also does not currently feel like very good company. Whether or not she will try to change that or give into the little black raincloud of GRR! and fear and loss remains to be determined.]

[zessica]

[Rogue can probably hear the snort of amusement Zessica gives at her muttering. She grins over at her.]

Us and probably most everyone else here.

[touchofrogue]

[Rogue looks up at that, and something in her expression lightens at Zessica's grin.

Not alone. And not in the horrible way her psyches had once left her - she'd gone through this before, she knew how to start over. She could do it again. She just had to keep living.]

Ya think they have censors for that sort of thing? [Her lips quirk up, amused.] Like, is this a show for kids too, or strictly adult?

[zessica]

Well, I'd say once we're settled in, we could try to find out. [Her smile's a little more devious now, hinting to any number of possibilities. Of course, she's probably kidding, but it's still fun to imagine.]

Who knows, they might not even tell us. We'd just keep trying until they decide enough is enough.

[touchofrogue]

[Rogue allows herself a cautious half smile, tentative as hope.] You're on.

[And... that is kind of a funny thought. She shakes her head and takes a bite of her food. Oh. Not bad. And apparently she's starving. She takes another bite before swallowing and speaking.] 'You're raising the ratings an' bumping the show out of prime time.' [She shakes her head.] Weird. In Luceti, we knew the Malnosso were watchin', but they weren't as obvious about it as this.

[zessica]

[Zessica stops mid-bite and gives Rogue a confused look. Swallowing, she feels the need to ask.]

The where and who now?

[touchofrogue]

The people runnin' the place where I was before now. [She shakes her head.] It's a long story.

[zessica]

[She makes a show of looking around, then face Rogue again with an overly dramatic shrug.]

I dunno, it looks like we've got time. [Another sip of water.] Unless you're bot comfortable sharing yet or something. It's fine either way.

[touchofrogue]

[There is a pause here as Rogue considers this. She is a private person, normally. But, well. Luceti wasn't exactly private in her mind yet. Nothing she would say about it would be secret or... something everyone in Luceti didn't already know. It was just... now people didn't know. And how could she even explain... she always felt like she was horrible at explaining things.]

Tell ya what - with fair warnin' that I am terrible at story-telling, I'll fill up all the time we've got ta kill about the basics of Luceti. [She tilted her head and lifted her eyebrows at Zessica.] You tell me some more about that - dimension grabbin' thing you've got goin' on back home?

[zessica]

[Her eyebrows raise just slightly as Rogue offers that up. Color her intrigued. A hum escapes her before her grin fully forms.]

What? Like a story trade off?

[touchofrogue]

[Rogue nods, the shadow of a smile on her lips.] Yeah. I mean. [She gestures around to the empty mess hall.] Unless you've got a better idea or somethin' more pressing ta do.

[zessica]

Not one. [She raises a brow, and her lips come together in a sort of smirk.]

Okay, how about we just ask questions? That might make it a little easier. [Another bite.] Feel free to start.

[touchofrogue]

Okay. [Rogue takes another bite of her food and considers.] What's the name of your world? What's it like there?

[zessica]

Vega. [Zessica takes another drink, pondering the second question.] Well, we've got cities, towns, schools, militaries... You'd need to be more specific.

Anyway, what did you do back on your world?

[touchofrogue]

Back in my world? [Heh, she hasn't thought about that in ages.] I was just tryin' ta get through high school.

[...of course, things got in the way. And she doesn't quite look like she belongs in high school anymore, the flush of early 20s is upon her.

She jabs at her plate and retrieves some more food. The whole X-Men thing was so much more complicated, and honestly it feels like a complete answer to her, but... it wasn't entirely, was it?]

...an' then I wound up tryin' to stop someone from takin' over the world. You know. As happens 'pon occasion. [She rolled her eyes a little, not wanting to get into it in detail, and trusting in the way most people were from that maybe she could leave it at that.] What about you? What'd you do?

[zessica]

That sounds a little familiar. [She raises her eyebrows in jest before leaning back in her seat somewhat.] School. In a way for a while. We're a specialized place, where only certain people can attend. It'd take a bit of explaining, but I don't mind sharing if you ask.

[Zessica grins, leaving that bait open.] Favorite thing to do?

[touchofrogue]

[Ooh, conversational bait. Rogue is a champion at ignoring that if she wants to, but in this case - not so much. She's grasping for straws of the familiar, and besides, she's interested.

First, though, Zessica's question. She exhales a light puff of thoughtfulness before answering.] Depends on the day, really. I kind of love music. [That's admitted almost shyly, because she isn't just talking about listening to it. Rogue plays guitar and sings, but it's always been something very private for her.] An' Penny. My horse.

[A shadow passes over her face and her eyes widen in alarm.] Geeze, I hope Billy an' Teddy are takin' care of her. She won't just disappear if I do, she belongs ta that world.

[Shit, she should have taken better care about getting a successor at the stables after Loki left her on her own. Who cares if the Item Shop gets all weird disorganized, but the horses. DD8.]