SS Pathstone Mingle

[heresyandlace]

Who: Crew and visitors of the SS Passive Aggressive Pathstone
Broadcast: Probably not
Action: Aboard the ship
When: All February!

[with how good everyone on this ship is at settling differences, getting along, acting rationally, and sharing their things, this month will go by without any ripples.

the audience will be so bored. there isn't ever any drama on this ship. at all. it's great.]

Comments

Caterina Sforza

[thetigress]

Arrival/Lockers

[Almost as soon as Caterina realizes that she has a locker, which potentially has a change of clothes in it, she's there. Unfortunately, the change of clothes in question is... this.

Wonderful. She stands there, still dressed in that damn gown, holding up the jumpsuit, trying to decide which is the lesser evil.]

Any other time

[After she gets her clothing issue sorted, Caterina falls into quiet sort of routine. It's odd, perhaps, for her to withdraw into herself, but the "spider of Forli" has been plucked from her webs; she has no real support, no allies. She didn't even know the lay of the land yet, so to speak. So, for the moment, she watches and nurses the wounds of loss and recent defeat.

She's pleasant enough in conversation- and she certainly doesn't avoid company- but she is also often to be found sitting on her own, reading or working on some project.
Idleness is not her friend; it allowed her thoughts to stray too far afield.]

[killedwithlove]

It'll be more practical.

[Cole speaks from directly behind her, as is his want, rocking back and forth on his feet.]

And you can make new memories for it easier, without having to fight the old ones.

[thetigress]

[She turns at the sound of his voice, her eyes widening briefly.]

Infinitely more practical. [After another moment of consideration, she folds the jumpsuit over her arm and turns back to the locker to close it.] I have been accused of acting like a man; why should I not dress the part?

[But when she turns back to Cole, her expression is different, more guarded.] Why do you speak of memories?

[killedwithlove]

How do you act like a man? You're a woman. That just... is.

[He looks somewhere else, rocking on his feet again.]

The dress. It has bad memories. It hurts. The jumpsuit is better.

[thetigress]

[It's odd; Caterina knows very well why some behaviors are more masculine than others, but putting succinctly into words is surprisingly difficult. It's not just that she sometimes wears armor and bears arms, though that's part of it. It's something more.]

I am a woman with ambitions and I make no apologies for it. My fate is my own hands. That is enough for some.

[But that last statement- how could he know? Her face? Her expression was not a pleasant one, she knew, but to link it to the dress specifically... ]

What do you know of my memories? How do you know?

[killedwithlove]

[Cole takes a half step back, slightly wary. People have lashed out at him before when he tells them things.]

It hurts you, so I know it. I know people's hurts.

I'm Cole, but I was Compassion before I was Cole.

[thetigress]

[Actually, that phrasing is somewhat reassuring. It's easier for her to deal with than the idea of him actively rooting through her mind. And her hurts- well, there are worse things he could know. The idea still makes her uneasy and Cole still merits watching, but the situation is what it is; she's not going to make a fuss.]

I am Caterina Sforza- or do you know that already? [A thin smile] I trust I may rely on your discretion in this?

[killedwithlove]

I'm not as good with names. Unless the names hurt. Or hide the hurts.

[He nods, not looking at her, looking at something in the corner.]

I'm good at keeping people's secrets. I was in a cell too. But I didn't leave it.

[thetigress]

You certainly seem to have left.

[killedwithlove]

I did. But not Cole. Cole who is me left.

[thetigress]

[Well, that's clear as mud. She turns her head slightly, as if by doing so, she might literally get a better angle on things.]

You have lost me.

[killedwithlove]

[He nods.]

That happens a lot. I don't mean to, but it happens.

[thetigress]

It happens to the best of us, on occasion. [More often, likely, to those who are something more than normal. A consequence of knowing more than he is meant to, perhaps?]

[killedwithlove]

I can try to explain, but it might upset you, so it's probably better if I don't.

[thetigress]

You needn't spare me. I hide from nothing, not even grief.

[killedwithlove]

Cole was a mage. He died in a cell, he was scared and alone, so I came to comfort him.

And then he died, and I thought I was him. I know I'm not him, now, but I still remember being him.

[thetigress]

[That does shock her. It doesn't upset her, not in the conventional way, at least. More than anything, it adds to the growing sense of what Cole is not and how poorly whatever he must be fits into her preconceptions of how the world works. It's unsettling, more than upsetting.]

You are not quite human, are you>

[heresyandlace]

[when the dragon comes upon this sad scene, he can't help but give a commiserating 'tsk' of his tongue. he can sympathize, really.]

Decisions, decisions.

[thetigress]

[Is that sincere commiserating or is it sarcastic? She's inclined to interpret it as the latter. No matter.]

Do I amuse you? I am not the first woman to hesitate to give up her skirts, surely?

omg FINALLY gets back to this!

[heresyandlace]

[it's probably a bit of both, honestly.]

Not the first, by far. It's quite a far fall from finery to... [and he just nods toward the lovely jumpsuit.]

--That.

[thetigress]

Fitting to my station, then. It is quite a far fall from a countess to... [She echoes his tone, but instead of nodding, gestures at the empty air, indicating the entire ridiculous situation in which they find themselves.]

--This.

[heresyandlace]

[it's a little chuckle, but an appreciative one. the sarcasm is edging more toward indulging in some good old fashioned commiserating, now.]

A countess, mm? You may have an especially difficult time here, then. This place seems to have a particular love for dragging the lofty through the mud.

[thetigress]

You speak from experience, I gather?

[heresyandlace]

You could say so.

The system of classification is little different, but the sentiment is the same.

[thetigress]

Ah. [Information noted and tucked away] Well, I am not particularly concerned. I am not so lofty that I have no experience with the mud.