first one to make that doctor who joke loses

[birdsbirdsbirds]

Who: Everyone! All of you!
Broadcast: Maybe!
Action: Definitely!
When: Anytime during the toxic moon event!

---

[boy oh boy, isn't everyone just so excited to explore this... charming... place...?

this is a game-wide mingle and the timeframe isn't super-important, so throw in with whatever you want! play war games, go shopping for gas masks, get lost in the wilderness, hide up in the Iskaulit and refuse to set foot on the moon, anything goes.

here's the main event info post for reference! have fun!]

Comments

[precedented]

[ He laughs softly. ]

That's a very kind approach to the politics of leadership. When you bring morality into it, ruling becomes very subjective. Prone to inner conflict. What I might be doing is right, but what is right depends on the person.

We all cannot be right.

[universal_charm]

There's truth in that. But I think most people will agree that something like wanton execution and mass murder is generally not so morally right, while providing education and food for your people morally is.

But I guess it comes back to our earlier conversation, huh? What can you live with?

_{[ He makes a move and takes one of Leto's pieces. ]}

Question or secret?

[precedented]

I wonder. I doubt even if I provide all of those things, my people will not accept me.

[ But they're not meant to. ]

Anything, I suppose. There's little I haven't lived with.

[ He waves a hand flippantly. ]

Ask away.

[universal_charm]

Is there a reason for them to dislike you? Other than you being in power, which there's not much you can do about that.

_{[ He takes his time in thinking, tapping a finger against the curve of his chin. ]}

What's the one thing you can't do, but wish that you could?

_{[ Maybe that was a bit deep, but it was fair play he thought, considering the question Leto had asked him. ]}

[precedented]

[ He smiles, bemused. Of all the things to ask. ]

Die.

[ What a fun answer! Still, it was truthful. Leto turns his attention to the board as if he hasn't said anything out of the ordinary. ]

[universal_charm]

_{[ He actually has to pause at that and look at Leto for a bit, as if debating if the other is pulling his leg. But he doesn't see a reason for Leto to lie and there's no hint that he can say that the other is joking. The idea of another race living for a lot longer than humans is not unknown to him - Vulcans surely did for one. But not dying at all? ]}

Yeah, you might need to elaborate on that.

[precedented]

I can't die.

[ He flicks his gaze to Kirk - quiet, unassuming. ]

Oh, people will try. Bombs, guns, lasers. They'll get very creative over time. But it'll never work. I'm linked to another creature, symbiotically. He affords me a lifespan of several centuries and more.

[universal_charm]

_{[ It was certainly a strange sort of thing to hear, shocking even, but he supposed he should get used to that sort of thing considering he wanted to go out exploring the unknown universe back home. He is curious though - ]}

So the creature doesn't allow you to die via things like a physical assault, but it can't fight time.

_{[ Or so it sounded like to Kirk. Not immortality, but a near thing. ]}

[precedented]

Nothing can fight time. But even then . . .

[ He falters. He doesn't like talking about the end. ]

There will be a physical death of sorts, to the body. The worm-skin will eventually devour me. My hands, my limbs. My emotions, my humanity. Once it's done, it will . . . disperse into the sands.

[ He toys with the queen in his fingers. He's spoken of it. To many people, once he remembered the truth. ]

The Sandworm will be reborn. And at the back of their minds, a howling silent voice . . . will be me. Never to touch, never to interact with the world, but to simply exist.

[ He laughs, amused by his own gloom. ]

Can you imagine it? Just to be a thought in someone's head, never real enough to matter.

[universal_charm]

_{[ It sounds to fantastic to be real, but regardless of what he thinks, Leto believes it to be real. And perhaps it has more truth in there somewhere than he knows. He can't rightly say, knowing so little, though he feels a pain for the man he is coming to call a friend. ]}

I can't say that I can, no. It seems a rather lonely thing. Maybe that's a good reason for you to get close to people here and now.

_{[ To come down from the lofty height and enjoy the physical since he might eventually loose the ability to do so. ]}

Enjoy what you can, while you can, make memories to keep you company.

[precedented]

Even memories can tire you out.

[ He has so many as it is. Memories that are not even his. It would be so easy to slip into the memories and never emerge. ]

But I assure you, I haven't stopped living in the moment.

[ Even if he gets them mixed up with what he sees. ]

[universal_charm]

Good. I know it might not mean much coming from someone with so short a life span, but worrying about the future - it's just not healthy. You'll miss all the excitement in the here and now if you do.

_{[ He flashed him a sweet smile and moved a pawn out onto the board from behind his bishop. ]}

[precedented]

[ He looks at Kirk for some time before ducking his head in amusement. Best to lose himself in the game before he gets carried away. ]

I'm not worried about the future.

[universal_charm]

Good. I would hate to think you were distracted during our game. I mean, for some reason other than me.

_{[ He winked and pushed another piece into play, looking over the board. He could see several pieces that could be taken but all were acceptable at this point. If he kept going, he could see the path to victory - if Leto cooperated that is. ]}

[precedented]

[ He laughs softly. ]

Perhaps I need to be distracted by your skills before I am distracted by you.

[universal_charm]

Well since they're my skills, isn't it the same thing? Or are you trying to say I'm pretty?

_{[ He tossed Leto a wink and a grin as he moved another piece. ]}

Check.

_{[ One move from Checkmate. ]}

[precedented]

[ This had been an interesting game. More open, more unusual than the games he usually played. He had to remember this variation. He certainly hasn't seen moves like this in quite some time. ]

I wasn't aware I was trying.

[universal_charm]

_{[ A blonde brow arched and he ducked his chin a little, laughing softly. He glanced up at the other through the golden veil of his lashes at Leto even as he moved his final piece in play. ]}

Well, you aren't so bad yourself.

And Checkmate.

[precedented]

[ He leans back, pleased. It's been a long time since he's faced a challenge like this. ]

You've won. To the winner goes the spoils.

[universal_charm]

_{[ He sat back, considering for a moment. He toyed with his queen piece, turning it over in his fingers and stroking along the edge as he thought about it for a moment. Finally, he leaned on the table holding their game board and smiled oh so sweetly at Leto. ]}

For my prize, I want a kiss.

[precedented]

[ Leto laughs, genuinely impressed. He should have realized, but it must have slipped his mind during the game. He rises from his seat to head over to Kirk. ]

I see you enjoyed our last encounter.

[universal_charm]

Is it that obvious?

_{[ He waited patiently, turning in his seat to face Leto and tilted his head up slightly to look at him, blue eyes sparking with anticipation. ]}

[precedented]

Perhaps a little.

[ Leto tilts Kirk's chin up, a finger on his chin. ] But then in the Fleet, we all need a little . . . human contact.

[ His fingers trail up to Kirk's hair, a little sharp but still gentle. ]

[universal_charm]

Yeah, that's a way of putting it.

_{[ He liked contact - human or alien. He craved it, and it was a reason he wasn't always sleeping well. Not a major one, but one. In the past year his urge to touch and be touched had only grown, and anything tactile had become intensely important to both his sense of self and pleasure. He let his chin be tilted up, shivering at the trail of Leto's fingers in his hair, not minding the sharpness. His lips parted the slightest fraction, inviting him even from afar. ]}

[precedented]

[ Leto is not a tactile creature, not really. He became one through his tenure on Ruby. All of his team mates were creatures of touch, with hands and hugs and all those tiny gestures that Leto never could put into words.

Even now, the words elude him. It's been a few years since Aather, since his time there, since the skin of an Emperor fell onto his shoulders. Since the wormskin took him away from the cusp of humanity into something darker, more alien.

He has no right to be selfish. He chose this. He chose to save them all. But it still hurts to be so close and yet so far. For Leto, love is worship, an intangible part of his being. Every person he meets is a living moment of desire and love and fascination that never goes away.

He bends down to tease at Kirk's lower lip, his sharp fang-like teeth cutting slightly at the edges. Every fingered touch was a benediction, every wound was a communion of the soul.

Leto never did anything half-way. ]