This month's wanderings

[killedwithlove]

Who: Cole and anyone who doesn't get away fast enough
Broadcast: No
Action: Everywhere but the Marsiva and Tourist. Sorry Fenris, the Three Twins is fair game again.
When: During this month.

[Cole does this thing, where he parks the Pathstone alongside other ships, and then visits. He does this in a big circuit and then keeps doing it.

He likes visiting. Be prepared to be visited!]

Comments

[mikangirl]

[She glances up, eyebrows lifting at the person who's entered. She likes the hat, but she's pretty sure she's never seen him before.]

Hey.

...have we met?

[killedwithlove]

You promised to teach me to swim, but it's okay, people often forget me. We met on the ship inside you.

[mikangirl]

[Um



...yeah you're getting such a blank stare. Sorry, Cole.]

Ship...inside me?

[killedwithlove]

Yes.

I'm not doing this right.

We met. You told me about Luffy and your pirate crew. I told you about the fact I nearly drowned. You said you'd teach me to swim.

[mikangirl]

[It's another few moments of blank staring and turning gears before it clicks. The only possibility.]

Ah! When we were all on the Marsiva, you-- dreams, right? [Oh, that's awkward. She was hoping if she just never mentioned it-- but that's not Cole's fault.]

What's your name?

[killedwithlove]

[Cole nods.]

You said you'd teach me to swim. Would you still do that?

[mikangirl]

If I said I would, I suppose I better. [It's blunt, but she still smiles a bit.] If we ever get the chance, anyway.

What was it like? In... there.

[killedwithlove]

It was nice. There was a ship, with trees that smelt nice. The breeze was soft and warm and the sun was bright, but not scalding.

[mikangirl]

[Oh. Well, that sounds kind of nice and hits her with all kinds of nostalgia pangs. It's almost been a year.]

...probably just as well you never got to see it when it was stormy. If you can't swim, it'd have been terrifying.

[killedwithlove]

I would have gone below deck then. So I couldn't fall overboard.

[mikangirl]

Smart guy.

Do you have any experience swimming at all? And I don't mean nearly drowning, I mean-- any attempts since then?

[killedwithlove]

No. I haven't been near a big enough amount of water since then.

[mikangirl]

So we're starting from scratch. No big deal. I helped teach one of my crew to swim not that long ago-- kinda special circumstances. So I don't mind.

To be honest, it'll give me something to do. You can pay me back the favour some time, okay?

[killedwithlove]

Yes, of course. I help people, it's what I am. I'm Cole. I used to be Compassion, but now I'm Cole.

Cole never learned to swim, so I didn't know either and I never had anyone teach me.

[mikangirl]

[...okay, then.]

You say that like you're two different people.

[killedwithlove]

We were. Are. There was Cole. And I was Compassion. And Cole died. And Compassion took on who Cole was. So now I'm Cole who was Compassion.

[Welcome to conversation with the spirit boy.]

[mikangirl]

[He says it in a way that seems so childlike, but Nami can certainly understand what he means-- though she might take it a little less mystically than the truth of it.]

I see. I'm sorry.

[That Cole died, anyway. If she's reading that correctly. Which let's face it, she probably isn't.]

[killedwithlove]

[He states the blunt facts. It's child like in the simpleness, because he feels no need to add more than there was to it.]

That's why I'm not a mage, but he was. He wanted to not be a mage and I'm his second chance, in a way. I'm the life he never had.

He didn't want to die alone, so I came to him.

[mikangirl]

...I understand.

[Surprisingly, she does. There's something not-human here and she won't examine it closely, but there's pain in that. At least to her.]

Well. It's nice to meet you. Cole.

[killedwithlove]

[He nods slightly and then gives her a faint smile.]

Is it? Good. I'm glad.

[mikangirl]

Okay, so. [Moving away from that-- actually, she moves away from the comms in general, swinging to face him and hitching her legs up on the chair to sit cross-legged.]

You said you nearly drowned. Are you afraid of the water?

[killedwithlove]

[He perches up on a control panel.]

No. Why would I be?

[mikangirl]

A lot of people are, after that kind of situation. If you're not, that makes it easier to teach you.

[killedwithlove]

Oh. I suppose they are, yes. I'm not, though. Death doesn't scare me.

[mikangirl]

It scares me. [But she says that pretty cheerfully. Here's a secondary consideration, though.] I'm guessing you don't own like... uh. Swimming clothes.