Cheerio!

[thespaceopera]

[you're starting to recognize that familiar jingle, aren't you? the folksy tune comes drifting through your ship's speakers, followed by a much different voice than usual!]

G'morning, folks! I'm legendary interplanetary commentator Beau, filling in today for our lovely Diamond... Who has been feeling a little under the weather. Hope you feel better soon, darlin'.

Speaking of weather, here's the week's forecast!

Looks like we'll be having a heavy shower of transfers in the next forty seconds or so, largely over to the Wonderduck and Blue Fish, but with lighter showers moving in over First Breath and Huntress in the following twenty. I hope you folks have unpacked your ponchos!

[there's a hearty round of canned laughter from an unseen audience...]

Aaaand I am sorry to say, it looks like there's also been a bit of a cold front of disappearances--four of our band have left us, this week. While I can personally assure you it has not been due to death or other health complications, I can't completely rule out any connection with that cold that's been going around...

[a strange pause--before a little chime goes off in the background!]

This just in, we also have two brand new captains to lead our fine ships--everyone please give a warm round of applause to Captain Sok-ka of the SS Blue Fish, and Captain Fey of the SS Huntress!

[applause! tinny, pre-recorded applause!]

Fantastic. Be sure to tune in next week for more updates, and remember... the worlds are watching!


ooc: as usual, the network is open... but you won't get a response from Beau. the ooc post is here.

Comments

[proteusmoon]

[ Cecil, much like everyone else who got roaring drunk on the planet last week, has only been getting worse and worse health-wise, which means she's mostly confined to her cot these days, buried under as many blankets as they have and trying to sleep off whatever sickness has infected her. She hasn't been able to do much of anything, but between Kaneis and Makoto, she's been safe and surviving all right, even if she's suffering from rather intense cabin fever.

She feels like death vaguely warned over, to be honest.

It's when a new voice announces the Shuffle and Cecil hears they've received a new transfer that the captain forces herself into a sitting position, does her best to shower and dress, then drags herself off to the bridge to investigate.

She was not expecting the scene before her though. Kaneis must be in a mood over this. ]

Put your clothes on. Now.

[idealistic]

[ having been on a ship full of guys, the last thing Lloyd expected to hear at any point was the voice of a woman. and normally, he's a lot more proper than he is right now, especially around strangers and especially around women. of course, there are several instances that resulted in a foot-in-mouth moment, but he likes to believe that he's fairly chivalrous and well-mannered.

point being, Lloyd was convinced that the Tourist still had men on it, and he hadn't heard anything about new arrivals on the Tourist, so he was pretty sure there wasn't a woman on board. ]

W-waugh!

[ thus, when he hears an unmistakably feminine voice behind him, he jumps, promptly losing his balance on the chair from the force of the shock and tumbles to the floor.

he does quickly collect himself, face red as he stands behind the chair to shield himself. if he looks thoroughly embarrassed and apologetic... that's because he definitely is. suddenly he's having war flashbacks to the hot springs-- he can still feel the combined pain from Sheena's and Raine's smacks. ]

S-sorry! I'm sorry! I didn't know there was a girl here!

[proteusmoon]

[ Normally, Cecil wouldn't be nearly as gruff as she is today about walking in on this sight; flustered and a little annoyed, yes, but not outright angry. It's just his luck that he has happened to show up on a day when she feels absolutely awful and can't help but being set off at little things that normally just roll right off her back when she's herself.

She sighs with exasperation and continues to glare at him sharply, not bothering to look away for decency's sake as he flails about and tries to hide. The apology only works to slightly quell her irritation, because she thinks he knows all too well that he's not on the same ship he was before anymore. ]

Perhaps you should have bothered to check before making yourself at home first thing upon your arrival on a new ship. It's terribly rude to be presumptuous, not to mention that even if I wasn't a woman, this would still hardly be appropriate, transfer.

[idealistic]

[ the lecture reminds him all too much of his stints with Professor Sage (down to the woman's genetic appearance, he notes), and it leaves him flustered with an underlying fear of the woman-- he's sincerely hoping that she doesn't resort to physical discipline like Raine does...

but what she tells him does throw him off enough to forget about that fear. ]

No, I... [ okay, now color him confused. ] I was always on the Tourist! I mean, I didn't get here that long ago, but when I got on there were no girls, a-and the other guys slept like this too--!

[ at this point he's just now bumbling nervously, but he is confused as to why this woman thinks he's on a different ship. ]

[proteusmoon]

[ Now that it's obvious he's confused, she knows she really should be easier on him, but mention of the Tourist kind of sparks an emotional response from her. The Tourist just lost a crew member-- someone who was deeply important to her. Irrationally, she lashes out at him because she's sure he took Barakiel's place on that ship. ]

Listen, you... This is not The Tourist. You're on The Wonderduck and I am its captain.

[ She takes a step forward, drawing herself up as much as she can in an attempt to make herself look bigger and more intimidating than she physically is, purposely crowding him. Her voice even rises in pitch with each spoken word as she goes. ]

Coincidentally, you are also not sleeping. You are sitting in your underwear on my bridge, stuffing your face of pudding while the rest of make do with protein sticks. So you see that still does not make your behavior acceptable.

[idealistic]

[ all things considered, he probably would have made a face at the ship name, but it's when he hears the second half of that part that he can feel his blood run cold.

she's the captain. oh dear god, for some reason, he just pissed off the captain. ]

--Okay! Okay! I-I'm sorry ma'am, I'll go get dressed!

[ and with that, he scuttles out of his hiding place and into the ship's quarters - provided the layout of this ship is the same as the Tourist - to get dressed. he has absolutely no idea what he did to piss her off beyond apparently sitting around in his underwear, but he definitely didn't want to be in the same room as her. he's convinced that if he stuck around for much longer, she probably would have thrown things at him.

he'll be back in like two minutes. ]

[proteusmoon]

[ And what he comes back to may or may not explain why she was so grumpy.

Because when he returns, he'll find her passed out against the controls, sitting on the floor, and shivering in a cold sweat like someone just dumped a bucket of freezing ice water on her. ]

[idealistic]

[ and he does come back, properly dressed for the most part-- his jacket isn't tucked in, his suspenders aren't up, and he's missing his gloves, but he's dressed! besides, he's pretty convinced that the captain was counting the seconds.

so color him surprised when he comes back and finds this. well.

that ain't good. ]

The hell?! [ RUSHES OVER AND GENTLY SHAKES ] Captain! Captain, are you okay?!

[proteusmoon]

[ After some shaking and quite a bit of yelling, she finally comes to and gives him an irritated look— or at least she tries to, but, honestly, she feels so horrible that it's probably about an eighth as intimidating as it's meant to be and Cecil soon gives up by curling up on the floor again, but moving makes everything spin. ]

It's nothing. I'm fine.

[idealistic]

[ well, this explains why she was being so crabby. dammit... Lloyd should have known that something was wrong with her in the first place (even if he hadn't known her before then). ]

Like hell it's nothing! Come on--

[ regardless of whether or not Cecil will protest, Lloyd will grab one of her arms to hook over his own shoulders, holding her by the wrist to keep it in place. the other arm goes around Cecil's waist, holding her close as he hoists her up to her feet and proceeds to drag her back to... wherever he hopes the bunks are.

at least Lloyd's courteous enough to take their height difference into account and leave her enough room for her feet to touch the ground. ]

One day it won't take me five years to tag back. ;;

[proteusmoon]

[ Luckily, Cecil seems to have run out of steam and she doesn't go on to protest Lloyd's treatment. She tries to keep herself on her feet as he picks her up, but she's exhausted what reserve energy she had on scolding him, so she has little choice in the matter when he starts dragging her off. She keeps quiet and simply resigns herself to her fate, beginning to feel mildly guilty now that she had been so harsh on him. Confused as he was, he probably didn't deserve to be yelled at like that first thing upon arrival. Hazily, she makes a note to apologize later. For now though, she lets Lloyd take her to the barracks.

All the ships' layouts are more or less the same, so Lloyd's guess as to what direction he should take to get to the dormitory is just as good as anyone's. Eventually, they get there. Cecil's cot and the area surrounding it is just about the only one that looks like it's actually used at all, since Kaneis hasn't really been sleeping in the same room. ]

SHHH it's fine!

[idealistic]

[ okay, so the way to the cabin is exactly where he predicted it to be. awesome. he awkwardly shuffles through, finally noting the oddly neat bunks on the other side. it gets pushed to the back of his mind when he spots the cot and he carefully sets Cecil back onto it, stepping back once she's settled while still keeping eye level. ]

You gonna be okay? Do you need water or something?

[ FRET FRET FRET ]