driftfleet | (no subject)

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!]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

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.]

Hm, probably not. But you probably also won't find your way home if you stay here. I mean, don't you want to eat some more of that elven food you told me about? Stuff sounds too good to give up for some snow.

[boy, that elven food argument is tempting. his eyes light up a little... but the shininess wears off after only a moment, and he goes back to working on smoking his cigarette down to the filter.]

...What if I don't care so much about going home, though?

Well, I suppose you could stay here then. But I'd really miss you on the ship. That and I'm not sure if the people who brought us here would be very happy if you suddenly stayed behind. I'd hate if you got in trouble.

Oh...

[that first bit surprises him, and he hadn't thought about that last bit. he squishes the butt of his cigarette out in the snow once there's absolutely nothing left he can get out of it. gotta make these things last.]

...You really want me back on the ship?

Of course I do! It just wouldn't feel like home-away-from-home without you! Why wouldn't I want you back on the ship?

[Vash tilts his head in the direction of where he left the shuttle.] Shall we head back?

[it's probably pretty selfish of him that he likes the attention. however, it at least gets him to finally push up onto his feet and dust the snow off of his pants.]

I guess so.

[Vash smiles, places his arms behind his head, and waits for Nel to finish dusting himself off before lazily walking towards the ship.]

I hope the next planet is as fun as this one was. I've never had the chance to see snow before this.

Oh really?

[it's a nice harmless topic to switch to as he starts shuffling his way back toward the ship.]

Well... I mean, I've seen snow before, but it wasn't anything like this. It's pretty crazy.

I think it's great! I don't get to see anything like this back home. My place is more like the first planet we visited.

Although, I guess it would get boring after awhile, having any weather all the time.

Oh, like a desert? I haven't seen anything like that either, but it seemed pretty empty.

[ice bars are way cooler.]

So, did you not really have seasons and stuff?

Well, we had the hot season and the extra hot season. [Vash cracks out in obnoxious laughter. As if he had just made the funniest joke in the world.]

[and because Nel is Nel... he laughs too! hahaha that was such a great joke!]

Man, space really is amazing. Before when I use to look up at the stars I use to think it was a lot more empty!

[So he knew that there were other planets with life out there, but it had taken so long to find the planet that his crew did. It sometimes still felt very empty.] It's kinda nice to know that it's not!

[At least the pod is in view now. Nel won't have to put up with Vash's idle chit chat for too long.]

I guess.

[it's really not a comforting thought for Nel, for a number of different reasons. but he smiles anyway. he'll just try not to think about it--looking at his feet in the snow instead of the sky.]

...Do you think it really would have let me stay behind?

You know; I'm not really sure.

[A pause.]

Would you really have wanted to stay?

I don't know.

[he kicks snow as he walks.]

Probably not.

Then let's worry about that when we get to a planet we'd want to live on.

Okay.

[that's a deal, buddy.]

[He didn't say anything about a deal!!

But they have a safe and quiet shuttle ride back to the ship?]

[all is well. Nel has been successfully herded back to the fleet! good work, shepherd Vash.]