∞ 007

[cpt_ressentiment]

Who: The Crew of the SS Starstruck + Any Visitors!
Broadcast: Nah prob not
Action: On board the SS Starstruck, or on the spacestation if you like!
When: NOW! and until the next mingle.

[ Y'all know what this is? This is a mingle. So get in here and mingle it out, everyone. o7

We have plenty of new people, but we don't have plenty of room anymore! Never really figured out a more permanent solution to all that yet, did we...? How's everyone coping, hmm?

Welcome newcomers! And welcome visitors! To the oldbie crew - stay awesome. ♥ ]

Comments

[mucked]

-- She's gone, isn't she?

[ peggy carter is just down the hall. she stands, hands on her hips, and watches stefan's attempt to access a room whose mere existence (or non-existence) is a kind of...proof. ]

Friend of yous? [ peggy only knew elena from the ship -- and only briefly. but she did like the young woman. ]

[stefanged]

More than that, actually. [He must look ridiculous. The med bay doesn't exactly have a locking system or a key pad or anything that would cause its door to vanish and yet Stefan's still looking.

He takes a deep breath, turning to face Peggy and keeping one hand on the wall. His voice grows small and quiet, like he's more seventeen than a hundred and sixty eight,] She was... uh, she was kind of my [platonic] soulmate.

[mucked]

Soulmate, hm?

[ does peggy believe in soulmates? well, not precisely. but it's hard not to feel persuaded by the notion after having met and loved and lost a man so utterly brilliant that no other word seems to fit. her expression softens. ]

-- I'm sorry. Is there anything I can do?

[stefanged]

[He freezes. Her kindness, while appreciated, was also completely unexpected. Stefan must've been as ridiculous and desperate as he felt.

Get it together, Salvatore. Elena wouldn't want him to look this helpless and lost. She also wouldn't want him to cry over her in the middle of a cramped hallway. He rubs at his eyes, acting like there's dirt in them rather than tears.]

A cup of tea, maybe? [...] I left some here with Yosuke and Elena, though I hope it's in the kitchen and not the lab.

[mucked]

-- Perhaps it's there. We'll have a look. [ she gestures towards the kitchen with a nod of her head. ] And you'll sit down and let me fix it for you. Peggy's orders.

[stefanged]

[He follows that gesture, turning towards the kitchen.]

Thanks, Ms. Carter. [Despite his instincts, because he has the energy to try to make a joke,] Or are we officially on a first-name basis now?

[mucked]

We can be, [ she allows. ] If you'd like.

[stefanged]

I don't mind? [Headtilt] Honestly, I'll follow your lead.

It's just more - it's been a while since people've called me "Salvatore."

[mucked]

It's your name, isn't it? Why wouldn't people call you it?

[ nosy. ]

[stefanged]

Because it wasn't always. [he sighs, finally telling her a truth,]

I have two surnames back home. Salvatore was the one I was born with, but I've been going by Alesci too.

[mucked]

-- Seems a touch confusing. [ mild. almost a question, because the way he talks about it doesn't make it sound like an alias. ]

[stefanged]

You're not wrong. [a small, hesitant sigh,] I know I was being... me when I asked you about soulmates.

What did your world say about reincarnation?

[mucked]

Some believe. Some don't. Rather depends upon your creed, I suspect.

[ and they can both guess where the staid and pragmatic-to-a-fault ex-military agent falls on that spectrum. ]

[stefanged]

I should've guessed. I used to think it was the stuff of fairy tales, except.. [shrug] I kind of live in one.

[mucked]

What an odd thing to say. [ ... ] Which one would you claim to inhabit?

[stefanged]

[Hm. Technically Romeo and Juliet isn't a fairy tale so much as a tragedy...]

I'm not sure. It feels like one, though, simply because things like soulmates and reincarnation aren't supposed to be everyday things.

[mucked]

So. [ she can't help her skepticism, but peggy does him the courtesy of hearing him out. ] You're suggesting it's more than a belief, for you?

[stefanged]

Unfortunately. [His faith doesn't leave much room for past lives and tragic lost loves.] It's hard to explain, but Salvatore was my past life.

So technically, I shouldn't have met Elena here and yet... it happened.

[mucked]

Did you remember? [ -- ] Before you met her?

[stefanged]

Bits and pieces, but the minute I saw her on the Fleet... it was like I'd never forgotten her.

[Like a big flood rushing in, if he were completely honest.]

[mucked]

How bizarre. And quite unlike the other incidents I've been hearing so much of -- more than a mere alternate timeline of events.

[stefanged]

Exactly. I've talked to others who've lost their memories, but for them, that was it. No new lives or memories to fill in the gaps.

[mucked]

Is it quite difficult? To sort through it all?

[ sorry not sorry. ]

[stefanged]

[Thankfully, he doesn't mind. He's gotten the question enough before.]

Usually. Salvatore didn't uh - he didn't see life the same way I do, so it's like juggling both ends of the spectrum.

[mucked]

-- Are you talking about your faith? [ it seems a simple deduction. ]