Gumball Wishes and Taxicab Dreams

[thespaceopera]

[On today's episode of the Drift Fleet:

The cargo holds are full of mysterious crates! The crews are filling beyond capacity with new faces! Official alerts are informing the passengers that they are signed to contracts that they've never agreed to! They are docking at the dazzling FS Starlight, but are flat broke!

What are they going to do!? Stay tuned to find out!


...Meaning, this is a kickoff mingle for you all to enjoy the beginning of the latest plot setting. This is a convenient place to start threads relating to the first week of the event-- meeting new crewmembers, reacting to the mysterious cargo, arriving on the station and discovering that you're all broke, etc.

Tag around, start whatever you'd like, have fun. And, as always, feel free to make your own posts and mingles from here on in, as this will be the only mod-posted one for this event!]

Comments

[nerdeology]

Hm?

[That is never a good thing to hear, and he's already so unsure.]

1/2

[timelapsed]

[ Max might be oblivious to some things, but not to her bff starting to shed some very real tears.

Jesus, Max, what did you do wrong? ]

[experiencepoints]

Most people can't see you. What do they see when you and Sorey, uh, 'armatize'?

[timelapsed]

[ Resume Operation: Hug Chloe. Mission parameters changed to consoling the bff. ]

Obviously it was. I'm sorry. [ Max isn't quite sure why, but. That's not the important thing here. ]

[princessia]

Okay!

[ Answered a bit too eagerly. Elize has seen other customers sampling. (Sneaky sampling when the shop-keeper's head is turned.) So, she assumes trying it out in the store is completely fine.

She accidentally squeezes out more gloss than she needs from the tube though and immediately becomes flustered. ]

Um... I think I messed up...

[heavenonearth]

Oh..

[ cas rolls his eyes skyward, blowing air out of his mouth that ruffles the hair over his brow while he thinks. ]

Three years ago, maybe? Four? Probably four. Something like that.

[nerdeology]

It's my understanding that they see Sorey as his normal self. The artes we perform together are visible, but it just looks like he's creating elements from nothing.

[helladoomed]

[And Max was hugging her again. From the side this time, considering how Chloe was standing, and the older girl makes no move to push away or return it, not at first. But she smiles a little, it's just...sad.]

No, it's not. You didn't do anything Max, oh my god. Fuck I just.

[Except she's not sure she's actually sad. She's not happy either. She doesn't know what the fuck she's feeling and that just makes it worse.]

We could just...okay. [Clearly her clever plan to hide everything was not going to work. But at least she seemed to be getting a handle on the crying. She kind of hooked one arm around the other girl lightly and sighed.]

It's just...complicated, okay?

[flameandpassion]

You would've figured it out.

[ rei had been alone for months before one of her friends showed up in adstringendum -- and even then, no one really stuck around long. ]

Adapted, and found friends. Companions, allies.

[experiencepoints]

Oh... So you can't just snipe people without them knowing.

[merchantprince]

I take it you don't mean hitting things with a sword.

[He squints at the laptop and moves a little closer.]

What's all this junk? Looks like someone fell asleep on the keys.

[nerdeology]

I suppose we could, if I used Spectral Cloak before--

[WAIT NO]

We can't just purify people by ambushing them with arrows!

[timelapsed]

[ wow Max, way to. Screw everything up.

But Chloe takes first priority. As usual. ]

Do you want to talk about it?

Aaaa

[princessia]

[ Elize is sitting at a table, head buried in a menu. She's wearing a poofy dress that's clearly from the station. It's at least minimal on the light green glow strips and not too blinding. Thank you Stefan for going shopping with her and dragging her on a modeling job.

There might be a few customers in nearby tables leering at her, probably wondering what she's doing on her own. Elize doesn't notice, too occupied with browsing the selection of food. She has her doll Hoppo sitting across from her on the table, looking almost like a second customer. But it's actually her purse...

Her head pops up from behind the menu, when she notices someone by her table... ]

Belthazar?

[monolike]

Yeah, that makes sense. I mean, they've only spoken to people once or twice, right? That's not enough to get to know somebody. [it's so uncomfortable being kidnapped by complete strangers]

[helladoomed]

[If only Chloe could see inside her head and correct that thought. Ah well.]

[The question made her laugh, a quick, quiet noise.]

Fuck no. I want...I want to spend some time with my BFF, SuperMax. [Another sniffle, a breath, and she seemed almost back to normal. She gave Max a squeeze, then squirmed free of the hug.]

My best friend, who is going to pretend I didn't just start bawling like a five year old, right? And show me around this crazy space station instead?

[Hopeful smile.]

[monolike]

So my clothes? Would that mean I'd just look like a floating head and a pair of hands, or would I just look naked? [the IMPORTANT questions] Hmmm.

[timelapsed]

[ Normally, Max is curious by nature. Curious to the point of breaking and entering. Pressing for more information would be the normal chain of events here.

Buuuut. Chloe's more important than that. For Chloe, she'll play along. ]

Yeah, sure. I can do that. [ Gives her a smile back. ]

[helladoomed]

Great! [Whew.] Look. I'll explain...at some point, alright?

[Maybe. But for now she reaches out and grabs Max's hand.]

So come on, you must've poked around this place already, what's there to see?

[nerdeology]

When I visited with Sorey, yes.

[nerdeology]

[He will probably regret indulging this, but.]

Considering the objects infused are merely transparent to those without resonance, you'd probably look naked.

[So, you know, if you want to embarrass yourself.]

[huaaaaagh]

Hah, well, I have done that kind of hacking, but not right now. Here, I'll show you.

[He turns the computer back around, typing away for a bit longer. When he finally seems satisfied, he climbs to his feet and steps back in front of the machine. A few carefully-executed button presses later, and it starts generously spitting out credits.]

And there we go. Pocket successfully picked.

[monolike]

Did you feel that way because it's what you wanted? Or because you're the spirit of Compassion? [Tilts his head thoughtfully.] Or maybe those things are the same?

[monolike]

Oh trust me, I don't have a shortage of those. [No, but.] I have a lot of people who care about me and want nothing more than for me to be happy. I'm one of the luckiest people in the world. [He lifts his arms to spread them at the sky, my good fortune is thiiiis big!] Maybe the galaxy, even!

[monolike]

[Well-

Well okay, he probably owes it to him. And while walking along with him is kind of like being in a constant cloud of cigarette smoke, Sorey's going to have to endure. Malevolence does not work the same way here, for whatever reason.]

Ah- engineering. I still don't know much, but I'm picking up a lot as I go. I've already done a few jobs around the station.