enter if you dare (i'm kidding we're 80% approachable)

[theroadwarrior]

Who: Crew and visitors for the Starstruck!
Broadcast: None!
Action: The SS Starstruck
When: March! And, y'know, until the next mingle too.


[EVERYONE GET IN HERE AND MINGLE AND STUFF OKAY.]

Comments

from Maldua onwards, room and kitchens

[lord_wizard]

[Felix had been mentally preparing himself for leaving the Starlight ever since the arrival of the Maldua became apparent. He knows a period of listless traveling is imminent, so as he says goodbye to the floating cityscape with regret for everything he'd been unable to procure. He's at least thankful to be free of the gumballs, and once the cargo hold is vacant the mental calculations transform themselves into physical action.

Largely, this means cleaning. It's not an activity he enjoys by any stretch but it's something to do. Something that might make the Starstruck more bearable to be trapped in for however long it will be until he can escape it again. He airs out his room and straightens his belongings (clothes and books, mostly), wiping every surface down from the floors to the hanging fishbowl that strangely houses a glowing fish, then replacing the bedding with yet more new linens (thanks Max).

In the kitchen it's more of the same. He might be found cleaning the counters and dining table, including the strange glowing chicken statue fused to the middle of it, his shirtsleeves neatly rolled up to reveal the brilliant tattoos of winding vines that crawl up from his knuckles to his elbows. Over the smell of soap is the odor of fresh bread and roasting meat (thanks Max, this time less sarcastically]. There is a pan boasting the former, slightly burnt at the edges, but nevertheless the genuine article, sitting on the counter to cool.

Funny how distractions start to look like actually doing your job sometimes]

[resnipstance]

[Ahsoka comes into the kitchen when she smells meat cooking, but then she pauses awkwardly when she sees it's just her and Felix. Her hesitation is apparent-- she can't back away now that he's seen her come in. That would be rude in the extreme. But their relationship to date on the Starstruck has been awkward at best, so she doesn't want to presume to ask him for food when it's just the two of them, either.]

Oh. ... Um. ... Hi.

[Awkward turtle.]

[lord_wizard]

[He hadn't been certain that she'd been skirting him over the last couple of weeks until now. After all, there was a lot of coming and going while they were docked at the station, but now there's few places left to hide. The walking on eggshells act is wearing a bit thin, especially when he considers himself having done nothing to warrant the treatment.

Felix pauses in his task, bracing his arm against the table, giving Ahsoka a sideways glance that's pointed as it is weary]

You may as well come in. I promise not to hex you.

[resnipstance]

[Well, that immediately puts her on the defensive.]

I didn't think you were going to hex me! Whatever that means.

[lord_wizard]

[He has a bad habit of playing into people's expectations, even when they're not good. Especially then.]

Cast a spell on you. Of the harmful variety. Or whatever your Sith equivalent might be? Your people aren't unfamiliar with sarcasm, are they? [He sighs, rolling his eyes slightly] It's simply that you still seem uncertain of my presence. It must be something.

[resnipstance]

[Ahsoka crosses her arms.]

I don't think you're going to hurt me. You've had enough chances. It's just-- your presence in the Force, it's-- it doesn't feel... good. [Pause. Then:] Actually, it feels bad. [Blunt as always.]

Doesn't anyone shield on your planet?

[lord_wizard]

I...[It easy to see when it hits him. Eyes widen at first and then quickly shutter. She'd said she didn't think he'd hurt her, but he was. Simply by being here. The casual cockiness of his tone is quashed instantly, resembling]...yes, actually. It's just very uncommon. We can't sense other wizards, not unless we are actively looking. Most of the time, the only way to recognize another is to be in the vicinity when their magic is in use, or through touch.

And as you can see...[He spreads his arms wide, twisting his forearms so that brilliant marks on them]...for me, hiding has rarely been much of an option.

[resnipstance]

What? [Ahsoka has seen all kinds of different aliens and cultures in her time. Tattoos and markings, no matter how varied, will never be a surprise to her.] Are those supposed to be something special, in your world?

[lord_wizard]

[He nods] In my part of it, yes. They are a lot of things. They mark me as a Cabaline wizard and a mark of the oaths I took. They are a badge of office as much as they are a warning. And, in some senses, they are also chains. To anyone it would matter to, you can recognize a Cabaline wizard within a hundred feet by these marks alone.

[resnipstance]

Oh! I see...

Well. Would you like to learn? Shielding, that is. It's not hard.

[lord_wizard]

It's not? [Somewhat bewildered, but hopeful]

Are you sure? Our...abilities...operate rather differently. There are some techniques I heard about but never had reason to learn. I might be able to develop something on my own, but it would take time. Months, perhaps. We could try your way in the meantime.

That is...if you can endure my proximity. [Which is somehow both snarky and sullen all at once.]

[resnipstance]

[Ahsoka crosses her arms, looking distinctly unimpressed.]

I'll manage.

[lord_wizard]

[Felix takes a long, deliberate breath, presses a finger against the bridge of his nose, then tosses his wash rag onto the counter before he looks at her again. It's often difficult to balance guilt with his more hateful impulses.]

Where would you suggest we start, then? How does it work for you?

[theroadwarrior]

[Max leans against the counter eating some unpleasant looking glob of space food, watching Felix go to and fro — and really, he's been wandering around doing things for a while. He chews a slow bite and raises one solitary eyebrow at the scene, just as the man begins his cleaning of the kitchen. Isn't this more like the little girl from the Huntress' cleaning thing?]

... You're more restless than me.

[Dryly spoken. Max is at least in a slightly better mood than when he was cursing about his broken tooth.]

[lord_wizard]

[That fact is rather instantly noticeable, despite, or maybe because of, the fact that Felix has given the stubbornly quiet man a wide berth on board the ship. Especially once they're been a lot more groaning and moping and punching for his taste, and had acted accordingly to preserve his own skin and questionable sanity.

He stops what he's doing abruptly, staring, then sighs in aggrieved recognition of the simple truth in those words.]

You're right, I am. Though, if I were one to wager, we have different reasons for that.

[He twists the washcloth in his hands, only half looking at Max as he eats] I hate being trapped in here. I'm sure that's not a unique sentiment either. But there's very little on the ship to do.

[theroadwarrior]

[He shrugs.]

It's not.

[A unique sentiment. Max is notorious around here for pacing, being awake instead of asleep, finding the most random things to do... He climbs the hell outta' these walls.]

Could start invading everyone else's ships.

[lord_wizard]

[Felix tends to find other walls to climb, which is part of the current problem.

He does, however, let out a small snort of laughter]

I don't think the rest of the fleet would appreciate that. Besides, it's a temporary diversion at best. [And he's going to choose to believe Max meant that in jest, even if nothing else in their conversational history would suggest he has that ability.]

[theroadwarrior]

[Did Max mean it in jest? The world may never know.]

Isn't everything a temporary diversion?

[lord_wizard]

[Another slight chuckle]

I can't argue with the startling truth of that revelation.

[Much like his brother, Felix reminds himself he probably shouldn't underestimate this man.]

I meant more in the sense that we'd be quickly deposed. Or worse. I'm not one for hostile takeovers, in any case. Unless you meant invade in the more mundane sense, in which case you may be on to something.

[theroadwarrior]

Mundane works. [He hums, stirring at his food.] More people to talk to... Interact with.

[Not something Max is interested in, but maybe Felix would like that.]

[lord_wizard]

[He's right on target there, and Felix smiles at having his desires guessed at]

That would be nice. Clearly we aren't restricted to traveling around the fleet, and certainly the Iskaulit helps in that regard, but it's still very self-contained. [He grasps at the air with crooked fingers]

[theroadwarrior]

Most seem sociable.

[The implication of course is that he isn't. At all. That much has always been pretty crystal clear, of course. He grumbles under his breath, taking a moment between eating to add an unimpressed:]

Too sociable, sometimes.

[lord_wizard]

We can't help what we are, my dear Butcher.

[It's not as teasing as it could have been; his tone too soft. Because that seems to be a lesson that crops up frequently.]

I imagine you're lots of fun at dinner parties.

[theroadwarrior]

I don't go to dinner parties.

[the most serious response]

[lord_wizard]

[But pretty close to the one he expected]

Perhaps you could start. You clean up nice, I can already tell.

[He's careful to keep any note of flirting vague enough to be dismissed, but sometimes he can't entirely help himself. Still, he doesn't want to scare the man away after he'd started using actual words.]