Red Fish assemble!

[mortalcoil]

Who: Crew and visitors of the SS Red Fish
Broadcast: Nah
Action: Aboard the good ship Red Fish
When: End of February--Beginning of March?

[why is it called the Red Fish when the place looks more like a spiky dungeon than anything having to do with aquatic wildlife? no one knows.

it might be an unconventional atmosphere for socializing, but the lovable crew of the Red Fish isn't going to let a little thing like that stop them from bonding, are they?]

Comments

[child_of_bhaal]

Why?

[Totally baffled here, because Cas is a delight.]

[heavenonearth]

[ all right, he can't help but laugh at her bewildered expression. ]

Because teaching an angel how to behave wasn't easy, I imagine. And I never laughed at any of his jokes.

[child_of_bhaal]

[It's okay. His laughing lifts her melancholy.]

Maybe he just wasn't funny.

[heavenonearth]

[ that is, after all, the point of all this! he can't bring back her friends, or keep others from leaving, but he can sure try to distract her with smiles. ]

Hah! Well, maybe. Unfortunately I just had an underdeveloped sense of humor, I think.

[child_of_bhaal]

[See Cas? All that practice at friends has paid off.]

How is it nowadays?

[heavenonearth]

[ he figured it out, somehow, it only took an apocalypse and a heap of shattered self-esteem. ]

I like to think it's better.

[child_of_bhaal]

[Aw Cas :c If she knew,s he would hug.]

Know any good jokes?

[heavenonearth]

[ she's not supposed to know, that's the point! ]

Uh. [ way to put him on the spot!! ] So a duck walks into a bar. Says to the bartender, 'Put it on my bill'.

[child_of_bhaal]

[Well, she absolutely laughs so, good job Cas!

Seriously, she's never heard this joke, so it gets a good laugh.]

[heavenonearth]

[ cas smiles at her, warm and soft, and wriggles down a little lower into the blankets, getting himself comfortable and shutting his eyes. ]

Much better.

[child_of_bhaal]

[He has, quite deftly, cheered her up.]

Thanks, Cas. I'll give you back your pillow space now.

[His eyes are closing and he looks like he's settling in, is why she's offering to vacate the space.]

[heavenonearth]

[ cracking open one eye. ]

What, going back to your big comfy bed?

[child_of_bhaal]

No.

[It's honest. She just figured he'd like his stuff so he could sleep.]

I just want you to be comfortable.

[heavenonearth]

[ he shrugs, and shuts his eyes again. ]

Hey, no skin off my nose if you want to stay. I'm plenty comfortable.

[child_of_bhaal]

[Well then. Suppose that settles that.]

If you're sure.

[She settles back down. It's nice, having a blanket, something soft to put her head on. And company.]

[heavenonearth]

[ soft blankets and company are definitely a plus, and company too, though it's uh.. a little weird, for cas, to be sleeping beside someone, you know, platonically, but it's still nice. ]

'M sure.

[ spoken through a yawn; he's already sleepy, won't take long to nod off. ]

[child_of_bhaal]

[It's enough for her. She stays, but she doesn't sleep for a while. It's always hard for her to fall back to sleep once she wakes up. But eventually, she drifts at the surface of sleep, just before that current that pulls down into true slumber. She's in no hurry to get here though. This is comfortable for her.]

[heavenonearth]

[ cas falls asleep easy enough. he doesn't have much trouble most times, falling asleep, though truth be told that's usually because he's drunk in some way, and while he's definitely not entirely sober at the moment, he's not inebriated enough to pass out easy.

but sye's a comfortable presence. he always sleeps better for a warm body nearby, so it's not long before cas is nodding off, too.

he probably should have known better. cas has nightmares often, it's part of the reason he tries not to sleep sober if he can help it, and having terrible dreams is all well and good, but it's not something he wants to pile onto other people. he'd been too wrapped up in helping her, though, in trying to cheer her up that he hadn't even thought of it.

cas doesn't move in his sleep, even when his strange dreams go sour, when they turn to blood and death and lucifer's mad smile, to dean with his skin flayed and fire licking at his feet and a little girl turned monster in his arms, biting into his skin.

all at once cas snaps awake with a sharp gasp and a rough, quiet sound in his throat, head spinning and a shiver lancing hard down his spine. ]

[child_of_bhaal]

[Thing is, Sye doesn't need much to bring her to waking. Too long sleeping in places where danger and pain were a soft promise away. A gasp is more than enough to have her eyes pop open and her sitting straight up, reaching for the knife she keeps on her.

But she's just as quick to assess that there's no immediate threat, so the knife stays put away. She reaches for Cas' arm, gentle but firm. A grounding presence.]

Cas? What's wrong?

[She can guess, in general, he'd had a dream, but beyond that it's a mystery. Either way, she asks.]

[heavenonearth]

[ there's that brief moment of disorientation, that half a second where he's still got one foot in the dream, but sye is not alone in that trait; living in war-torn apocalypse land, even in the safety of his cabin cas always has to be quick to rise in case of emergency.

still, he's looking through her for a moment before he's focusing, registering. ]

I'm - I'm just --

[ he says, breathes, really, then lifts a trembling hand to his face to grind the heel of his hand into his eyes, breath still quick and sharp, panic singing in his blood. his voice is rough with sleep and tight with lingering fear. ]

Just.. a dream, that's all. Sorry.

[child_of_bhaal]

[She gives his arm a gentle squeeze, for reassurance, and to help ground him. She is real. He's awake.]

Nothing to be sorry for.

[If it hadn't been him, it would have probably been her. And she's usually a thrasher. He was down right polite about it in comparison.]

You know what usually works for me after a bad dream is a change of venue.

[It's an offer, feeling him out if he's up to moving somewhere else.]

[heavenonearth]

[ cas hesitates a moment, then sits up slow, energy still vibrating all through him in uncomfortable waves. he doesn't really want to bother anyone, but.. ]

Yeah, I'm.. uh, sure, I should get out of your hair.

[child_of_bhaal]

[She shakes her head, and gets to get feet. She offers him a hand at the same time as she picks up the blanket.]

Grab your pillow. I want to show you something.

[heavenonearth]

[ there's only a moment's thoughtful hesitation before cas takes her hand and hauls himself up to his feet, pillow tucked up beneath his arm. he'll come back for his jacket and boots later, he leaves them here all the time. ]

Right.. sure.

[child_of_bhaal]

[She keeps his hand. Not that he needs the guidance, but she thinks he could do with a bit more contact. He's not usually so taciturn, and that makes her think the dream is still hanging around the edges of his consciousness. A real, warm person can only help push it away.

She leads him to her quarters. The room is incredibly sparse; a bed, small side table, and a few likes of books on the floor she borrowed from the library. On the walls are drawings though. Rare paper, with sketches of individuals, some faces be would recognize from the crew. On that side table is a glass container, holding what looked like sparkling, almost liquid light; arcane energy.

She addresses none of these things, yet, and takes him over to the bed. She tosses his blanket over the one already there, then pulls the covers back, nodding for him to climb in.]

In you go.