driftfleet | At least there's no elevator music...

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At least there's no elevator music...

[At least two weeks have passed since the Drift Fleet passengers woke up on this strange wing of the Marsiva... Some new passengers have even joined the group instead of being Shuffled off to a fleet ship! The large monitor in the central room remains quiet for now, so how is everyone holding up?

Have you been relaxing? Enjoying the Earth media? If you can even remember them, how have Calibrations been treating you? Has anyone started getting a little stir-crazy?

Don't worry... This ship has no shortage of mysteries, and you'll be seeing a few more soon.]

ooc: here's another mingle for the current game event! players can start or continue threads here from any point during the event. the additional setting information is still being postponed due to sickly mods, but y'all are welcome to post additional topcomments for reactions and investigation once it's up!

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[ Luffy's eyes light up like a kid discovering their favorite gift-giving holiday arrived early, and holy crap, if it isn't like he's actually sparkling, he's enthusiasm in physical form. The only way she could have made him fanboy harder is if she introduced herself as a ninja robot that fired beams. ]

A ninja? Really? Like Tacchi and Foxy and Cherry?!

[ Sorry, did she anticipate a handshake? Because Luffy grabs that hand with both of his, clasping it as he leans in. ]

That's so awesome!! Did you live in a, what's-it. A hidden village too?!

--uh, maybe? I don't know if I know any of those people.

[ they sound like nicknames, but who knows with some people .... ]

But yes, I did live in a hidden village.

Oh, uh. I call one of 'em Cherry because I didn't know her real name for a long time, and her hair was-- [ He talks with his hands, but the gestures are all vague and unhelpful, if expressive. ] You know! Like cherry blossoms! Pink, real pretty.

[ It takes a certain level of self-assurance to embrace some idea of manliness but still use words like 'pretty'. He doesn't have a thing to prove like Sanji does, but then, she knew him, she'd know. But he's positively beaming now, a smile huge and bright as daybreak, like talking about friends -- or at least, friendly acquaintances -- might just be one of a list of favorite things to talk about. ]

And Foxy's Naruto, cuz he's got these... I'unno, whisker things on his face!

[ And the most significant of them all, the one he was friends with longest and with the most investiture: ]

Tacchi... is Itachi, it's just easier to say. [ His face falls, if briefly; whatever troubled him just then is brusquely pushed aside in favor of the matter at hand: ] He's the one who told me about how you guys are like, secret armies or something!

[ Sakura. He must be talking about Sakura. And Naruto, too! Her face lights up too, and she's about to ask how they were doing, but that last name.

... She knows he's not actually crazy and was just looking out for Sasuke, but she can't imagine actually being friends with the guy ... ]

You were -- you were friends with Itachi? Uchiha Itachi?!

Well--Yeah!

Once, this really bad thing happened and it would've ended up with a lot of people dead. Some of my friends helped out, and one of 'em, Torao-- he got bad off after working so hard, and Tacchi looked after him.

[ That's about as much detail as he's willing to give, because the rest goes something like: ]

And a bunch of other stuff happened, but he was a great friend, looked out for everybody.

[ He's sobered as he continues talking, and he's stopped motioning with his hands, tucking them deep into his pockets. ]

...I miss him a lot. Anyway, if you know him, were you guys in the same village?

[ She looks a little dumbfounded. It's hard for her to imagine all of that, but ... Maybe that's the person he could be when he wasn't trapped by the laws and circumstances of their world. ]

... Sort of, yeah. I know Naruto and Sakura much better. The three of us went to school together.

[ The world he just came from turned a lot of things upside-down. ]

They're together, if you're wondering. And healthy!

[ And he won't say safe, not exactly, that'd be lying. None of them were safe. That's why he has to get back there -- none of his friends were safe, and he'd promised they would leave together.

He smiles again, though, adding eagerly: ]

Wow! I'll bet you're really strong, too!

Ha ... is that right?

[ That gets a little smile. She can see it working, anyways. And she's glad to know they're doing alright, wherever they are. ]

I like to think I'm pretty capable, anyways. But -- [ There's something weighing on her, now ] You wouldn't happen to remember if they said anything about what was happening in the place we came from, would you? I haven't heard from them in years, and the last I remember we were in the middle of a pretty big battle, so ...

[ To be totally honest, Luffy's pretty tickled to find, out of the wide, wide expanse of an endless sea of stars, he'd happen upon one other person who happened to grow up with some of his friends. And they're the first real, live ninjas he's ever met!

The ~~sea~~ universe sure is vast. ]

A battle? Hrmmm...

[ Luffy tips his head one way, then the other, slowly screwing up his face more and more (seriously, is thinking that hard?) until he shakes his head. ]

Don't remember, but-- you've been apart for years?

...Wow. I'm sorry. That's rough, but I'm sure you're gonna see 'em again!

[ And she's waiting, waiting ....

... And then lets out a sigh. She shouldn't have expected much, honestly, but it's the first she's even heard of them in years, so she had hoped ...

... But oh well. She'll offer Luffy a bit of a wry smile ]

Yeah, I hope so too.

I know so! Shishishi!

[ No sooner than he's hissed his own unique and toothy laughter, his stomach chimes in, giving the sort of long, shameless grumble that might have embarrassed anyone who... well, wasn't Luffy. ]

...Hey, you know where I can find a food printer?

[ And, for all that their conversation has meandered all over the proverbial map, this time he practically crumples, putting a hand on his stomach. ]

I'm really hungry!

[ He's getting another confused stare for a moment. ]

... No, but I know where you can find the kitchen?

[ And hey, she knows just the thing to up her favor with him even more. She nods her head towards the hallway leading back to the common area, turning to head in that direction. ]

C'mon, I'll make you something.

[ It's okay, Ino, they're going to be giving each other baffled looks for a while now, at the rate things are going. Any dismay he might have experienced learning that maybe, just maybe, for all its high-tech appearances it might not actually have food printers, it's gone the second she says she'll make him something.

Ah, Ino, you're becoming cooler and cooler by the minute. He throws his fists into the air with a whoop of joy, shaving years off his twenty in a single gesture. ]

GREAT!

[ He trots to keep up, then slows to stroll at her pace, lacing his fingers behind his head beneath the brim of his straw hat. ]

...Hey, how come we're in space? Are we going somewhere?

[ She glances over at him as they walk. ]

... Wow, you really just got here, didn't you?

[ How to explain this ... she can't remember if they have TV and stuff in his world. ]

The gist of it is, we got brought here to be recorded for an audience. We travel in a fleet of spaceships and stop at different planets and moons. We get paid depending on how entertaining we are. Right now, we're all stuck on this one big ship though.

Audience..?

[ Where he just came from, there was no end to the amount of mind-numbingly awful reality television, groan-worthy soaps, and eyebrow-raising game-shows. Considering this may just be the first answer he's received that doesn't result in confusion, he's caught her drift just fine.

~~Haha, drift, get it--~~ ]

What's that mean? We're paid... but only if we're really interesting to watch? Do we use the money to go back?

Yeah. And the money can be used to buy things at the places we stop, or upgrades for your ship.

As far as leaving goes, we've been told the only way to go home is to be the most popular, or most interesting. They haven't exactly been very forthcoming about all that.

[ He laughs, but it's different than before. Not humorless, exactly, but a little tired. This game is one he's a little familiar with, but only recently. A delicate balancing act of holding up appearances even when the whole mechanic of a place chafes something fundamental to how one views the world and what's right in it.

Right, okay. He's not so good at this kind of game, but he's learned how to survive in it.

The trick is doing so without the support he'd been accustomed to. Seas, he misses-- ]

Sure! No sweat.

...What's going to make you more interesting?

[ She shrugs a little. She's not really personally interested in catering to what Atroma wants from them, after years of being toyed with in a similar fashion. So she sympathizes with the laugh, at least.

... But ... she has noticed the change in her paycheck after certain things happen, so: ]

It seems like stuff like fights or love drama tend to get you more attention and money.

Fights I can do.

[ Gross understatement. He can fight, does fight, because that's pretty much the only way he can protect his crew, when he lacks a startlingly long list of skills otherwise deemed necessary for survival in the world's most dangerous and unpredictable sea. Love drama, though?

He's not interested in the formalities, the trappings of romantic love. Remembers a time when he was asked if he knew the difference between love and being in love, which he thought was a dumb question. Of course he knows he loves the people important to him, but he's got other loves too: adventure, his ambition and dream.

And a lot of those have been on hold lately. ]

What did you say we spend it on?

[ Sorry to make you revisit information, but he's still getting his head around this situation. ]

[ Well, that was exactly what she expected from him, anyways. ]

Yeah, yeah ... just be careful? We can't exactly breathe in space, so if you break anything it might make the oxygen cut off.

[ She rounds the corner into another hallway, leading back to the common areas ]

You can spend it on upgrades for your ship. So you get better food, bigger beds, longer showers, more shuttles -- that kind of stuff.

Cut off..? [ Luffy thinks back to those bright lights burning in the deep black past the windows. Thinks also of how it had felt to be utterly unable to breathe, that time gas-guy stole all the air out of the area. ] ...You mean there's no air to breathe out there?

[ He only has very limited understanding about 'space'. He knows you need a ship to navigate the sea of stars, but nothing else. Considering his engineering augment, this is going to result in some hilarious confusion.

Fortunately, Luffy's pretty good at just letting his body do its thing and everything turning out alright. He might literally be fixing things on 'auto-pilot', while having absolutely no idea what he's doing. ]

So... you spend money so you can be more comfortable? I don't really care about that, 'cept for the food.

How long have you been here?

Yeah. You can't breathe out there. It's only when we stop on a planet -- then we go into their atmosphere, so it's where people can live and we can go outside like you normally would. But while we're out here traveling, we have to stay inside the ship or else we'll die.

[ Ah, the good old "how long have you been here for" question. ]

I've been here a little over a year.

[ Planets and atmospheres, those, at least, are concepts Luffy's become slightly more familiar with, because of where he'd ended up for over half a year. And there's really little difference between 'leave the ship and you die because there's no air' and 'don't step off the ship or you'll drown', technically speaking.

That's not why he gives her a look. ]

Over a year?

[ His stunned silence includes an attempt to open his mouth to speak, and he shuts it again without saying anything.

A few moments later, he tries again. ]

I can't stay that long. I've got friends waiting for me!

Do you think we had a choice?

[ All right, Ino, that was a little harsh. She tries again, a little less touchy. ]

There's no way to leave of your own will, at least, none that we've found yet.

Edited 2015-11-16 04:32 (UTC)

[ No, not really.

Because he just woke up here one day, just like he did at that other place, and the hours turned into days, and days into weeks, and while Luffy was starting to set down roots and cast out a net wide for friends and people who could help each other, those weeks turned into months and he started to have a routine in that place. People he grew attached to, who he would never see again when he left.

Months might turn into years yet, except that got interrupted by another journey to yet another place. ]

...

[ He promised.

He promised he wouldn't be another in that chain of people important who just fell out of it again, who disappeared or were stolen away. Broke that promise, entirely without meaning to. Luffy tips up his head to look at the lights above, shoving his hands deep into the pockets of his hooded jacket. ]

And if you 'win' this game show thing..? You don't leave?

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