(no subject)

[catamite]

Who: Nel
Broadcast: Open; video
Action: Planetside
When: Nighttime, end of the month

[whether or not he admits it to himself, Nel knows that the Marsiva will be leaving the planet's range soon. he doesn't know what will happen once it does--whether it will take him with or leave him behind. maybe something bad will happen. maybe nothing at all.

either way, after the sun goes down on one of those mysterious few days when the Marsiva could be leaving the planet's range at any time (maybe a few hours? maybe another day or two?) Nel is still bumming around on the planet.

he almost looks like he belongs there; he's even got shady company. sitting against the wall of some building downtown, he's right in the middle of a small gathering of other adolescent derelicts, laughing stupidly and passing around a bottle of something they're all probably too young for. the thing that really sets him apart from the others are the two neon-colored feathered boas and matching dangly feather earrings he's got from recent shopping trips on the way-stations.

anyone still lingering nearby on the planet has a high likelihood of getting jeered and catcalled by him and the other teenagers. otherwise, there's a transmission that picks up in the middle of the camera spinning and jostling.]

--me that! I said it's not a toy. You're going to get snow in all its... parts...

[and then the camera is righted and centers on his face, slightly fogged by the smoke from his cigarette... and then smudged by fingerprints as he tries to clean it off.]

Oops, you turned it on. ...See? It's like a phone, kind of... [the camera then turns so a couple of young, local faces can peer into it]

Say hi!

[and on cue, they all wave! ...and then start making every obscene gesture they can think of. happy new year's eve, Fleet!]

Comments

oops its video i guess

[aberrant_type]

[She watches all of this with amusement. Ah, teenagers.

After about five rude gestures she calls out to Nel:]

Shouldn't you think about getting on board, kiddo?

[catamite]

[when someone starts answering over his communicator, he scoots over and turns the others out of its view, so he can properly answer]

On my ship?

[like she could have possibly meant something else.]

[aberrant_type]

[She waves a little once he's in the view, smiling amiably.]

That's right. Wouldn't want you getting left in the backwash, you know.

[catamite]

Do you think I'd really get stuck here?

[and then he dinks the mouth of the bottle he's holding against the edge of his communicator]

Hey, what if this is the last real city we find? Wouldn't that be terrible?

[he's laughing about it though, like none of this actually has any weight to him.]

[aberrant_type]

I'm not sure what'd happen. I would rather you not be the first experiment though!

[Her own tone is light but she is feeling mildly concerned for the little guy. Someone needs to be supervising him a little tighter, clearly. She's not too eager to take a sad prostitute under her wing. Is Robin close to him? Where is Robin?]

I doubt it's the last one we'll find. We have an entire universe, after all... do you know where your crew is, kiddo?

[She can already guess the answer...]

[catamite]

[babysitting Nel would sadly be a full-time job. he's too domesticated for anything less.]

They're around, I think. [he avoids truth like breathing] And... what if the other places are worse than this? Like, what if there aren't anymore of those birds after this, and we don't get meat anymore?

[aberrant_type]

[Yeah, she's beginning to see that. Mmm.]

I doubt that'll be the case. In the next planets we visit, I'm sure there'll be new and interesting things to see. Why would they be recording it otherwise?

It would be boring to show our audience the same thing again and again.

Action!

[goldenglasses]

[Vash was also a straggler still on the plant. Part of him just sad to be leaving, but the true reason he was here was to make sure no one he knew of would get left behind. He noticed right away that Nel was missing.

So here he was looking for the elf. He smiles with relief when he finally finds him. He doesn't even seem to give the type of people Nel is hanging out with a second thought. Walking up with a smile, ignoring any snide remark that may be made at his expense.]

Hey! There you are, Nel! I was looking all over for you! The ships are are about to be past orbit of this place. Better get on the ship soon if you don't want to be left behind!

[catamite]

[they're all dumb, harmless kids anyway, so they start to sort of scatter once he ignores them and singles Nel out of the group. and Nel, for his part, picks up the end of a bright green feathered boa and waves it at Vash.]

Hi, captain!

[yes, he has lost track of who is actually captain on their ship. he also either ignores or doesn't really hear the question.]

Hey, do you smoke?

[goldenglasses]

Smoke? Nah, it just makes me sick. Besides, those things can kill you and I plan to lead a long life if I can!

[Not that Vash is going to let Nel be distracted from his question for too long.] I'm afraid it looks like I've scared off your friends. We should probably find them so you can say goodbye. The ship is going to be out of rang any minute now.

[catamite]

Oh, they're not really my friends. [just pleasantly casual about it.]

...And we really have to leave already?

[goldenglasses]

Afraid so, buddy. Unless you really want to stay forever on this snowball of a planet. [He had considered that Nel might want to stay. Vash himself almost wanted to, but from what he could tell there wasn't a way home from here so best to keep going.]

[catamite]

It's pretty cold... but would staying here really be so bad?

[yeah. he's been considering it. the drinking that he's been doing hasn't helped either.]

video

[rebella]

Charming friends you've made, there. Uhm... you're not staying, are you?

video

[catamite]

Staying in this place? Nooo, I'll go back...

[but he's having fun and is a little drunk and is busy being a teenager for the first time in weeks. his sense of urgency is more than a little dulled.]

--Hey! What's your name? Have I met you before?

[rebella]

( Cue a raised eyebrow and a shake of her head, paired with something of a smile. Er. )

No, you haven't. Not that I can recall. I'm Ella, and you are...?

[catamite]

Oh, well... then it's nice to meet you! [unlike his shady friends there, he at least has some concept of manners.] I'm Nel.

[...and he laughs after half a second.] 'Ella,' huh? ...You know, they used to call me 'Nella' to tease me when I was younger.

[rebella]

Did they? ( She lifts an eyebrow. ) Which they would that be? Not that Nella isn't a perfectly respectable name, but Nel seems more than nice enough with how it rolls off the tongue.

[catamite]

People from home.

...And they'd call me that, like... as a girl's name, to tease me. I used to have really long hair.

[and yeah he looks pretty girly to begin with. oops.]

video;

[parricida]

Oh, children. How charming. Will you be defacing things next?

video;

[catamite]

[the camera jostles away from the other teenagers and back onto his face, pointy ears all red from the cold. and he just laaaughs...]

--You know, they said if you piss on the ice buildings, you can melt holes in them!

video;

[parricida]

Or quite possibly freeze your cock off. What will happen first, I wonder?

[But those ears . . . ]

What species are you?

video;

[catamite]

Yeah! That's what I said!

[yay, he's glad that they're on the same page here! he feels so vindicated right now.]

Oh... me? [and he reaches up to pinch his cold, red ears with his cold, red fingers.] I'm Elven.

video;

[parricida]

Elven.

[Not one he's heard of, and he wonders if they're related to Vulcans or Romulans after all. He tips his head, studying him as best he can.]

I'm a Cardassian, for reference.

video;

[catamite]

Cardassian?

So you're not... [and he hesitates for a second, balking at actually saying whatever it is he was about to. and so just gestures vaguely, shrugging at the camera] ...you know.