driftfleet | first one to make that doctor who joke loses

[You know what's awful about these ships? It's not the communal room. It's not the food. It's the fairly narrow hallway. Which is maybe not such a bad thing if people are walking and taking their time, because then people can pause and be sure to maneuver around each other without colliding and all of that good stuff.]

[Unfortunately, not everyone is taking life at such a leisurely pace. There's probably nothing to worry about when it comes to the white, fluffy dog that whips past Finn with a communicator in her mouth. The dog who he will learn the name of because shortly after she races past him, he'll hear:]

Cloudy! That's not a toy!

[So, it's not Cloudy that's to worry about so much as it's probably the 6'5" captain of the Caprine that's racing after her that's probably something to worry about because he most definitely runs straight into Finn. While the collision does nothing to Joseph in terms of knocking him over or slowing him down (because he's built like a brick shithouse), he does actively slow down a few steps after smacking into him. Joseph half-turns to look at Finn, glancing after Cloudy, and obviously ready to go racing after the dog at a moment's notice.]

You okay? [he asks hurriedly as he's already starting to inch towards the direction of the dog, rather than offering any help to get Finn up on his feet again if he fell. And then,] Sorry, she's got my communicator. So, I really can't— Do you mind if I come back to this conversation later?

Whoa!

[The dog is a bit of a surprise in and of herself, though since he saw a fox over the network on his first day it's not totally unheard-of. Getting run into, however, is what really knocks the breath out of him. He doesn't fall down either, but it's a very tight fit.]

Uh--sure? I'll be in the armory.

[Welcome to the Caprine?]

[Joseph flashes a smile as he gives a small bounce in the direction Cloudy took off in, and then he's off. At least he calls over his shoulder,] Thanks!

[And that's the last Finn will see of Joseph for about twenty minutes. Not because it actually takes twenty minutes for him to catch Cloudy and get his communicator back, but because Joseph legitimately forgets he was going to come back and talk to him in the first place. Things happened quickly, and, well. Joseph's a little bit of a ditz. Let's just be honest. Anyway, he does show up in the doorway of the armory looking for Finn, Cloudy this time trotting at his side rather than sprinting on ahead.]

Oh hey! You're still in here... [Joseph smiles, trying not to look relieved that he doesn't have to try and track Finn down, as Cloudy scampers forward to go inspect Finn.] Sorry about earlier. That's not usually how I try to greet new crew.

Uh, you looked a little busy.

[Finn's seated and inspecting one of the handguns to make sure it's clean and in good working condition. That the weapon is entirely unfamiliar to him doesn't bother him at all, since the augment makes up for it, and having a job that makes use of his skills is actually a comfort to him. He sets the gun down carefully and stands up.]

I'm Finn. Security, but you probably figured that out.

[Joseph smiles because he sure did figure that out for himself. But it's good to know for sure because it's not like they aren't crawling with security around here on the Caprine at this point that it was entirely possible he was just helping himself without necessarily being a member of security.]

Joseph Joestar, but you can call me Jojo like everyone else. I'm the main pilot and the captain. [He gestures to Cloudy who is currently sniffing Finn's shoes.] That's Cloudy. She's our first mate.

[There's a beat.]

Well, not officially. I keep trying to make the paperwork go through, but I think Atroma's clever enough to realize she's just a dog. Nobody around here really complains about me dubbing her the first mate though, so that's what she is until we get someone more official.

[And probably beyond that, let's be honest with ourselves.]

You had a chance to meet anybody else?

Jojo. Good to meet you.

[IT'S A GOOD THING HE CLARIFIES because Finn was totally prepared to take that seriously. Look, there are some very cute-looking aliens out there...but this one seems to be a pet. He holds down his hand for the dog to sniff.] Hi there, Cloudy. One of the other ships has a fox as a Morale Officer, so I don't see why not.

[He smiles, looking a little sheepish, and shakes his head.] Just got here. Talked to a bunch of people over the network, though. So what do I gotta know about this ship, Captain?

[Cloudy sniffs Finn's hand a moment while Joseph's talking.]

Well, you're going to want to get to know the security team for yourself, probably. I don't know how you guys want to split up whatever duties Caesar's probably come up with, but you'll figure it out. Caesar's not really in charge at all, by the way, he's just really bossy and uptight sometimes, but I promise he's not all that bad once you get to know him. And you can trust me on that because he's my boyfriend.

[The most important detail.]

The food around here sucks and you probably won't get used to it, but Qing makes a lot of good food, and so does my girlfriend, Suzie, whenever she visits. Plus, everyone tries to make an effort to bring things back from the stations and planets we visit, so you should probably do the same.

Hm...what else?

[Joseph taps his chin thoughtfully. At this point, Cloudy is licking Finn's hand and leaning against his legs. You may pet her, good sir.]

Oh! We're fresh outta engineers at this point. So be really careful if you take any of the shuttles out. I can do some minor repairs, but that's not enough to cover everything without borrowing another engineer from another ship. And the Caprine, well, she's been pretty solid and you don't have to worry about her dropping out of the sky or something like that, but we've also had a bunch of engineers before now. So we can pack a punch, but we sure as hell can't take one right now.

[Finn successfully pays attention to what the Captain is saying while simultaneously trying to interpret Dog, so he nods along and does start to per her when she signals it's okay. She's surprisingly soft, and he seems to relax. But then something Joseph says catches up with him and he looks curious.]

Got it. I'll be careful with the shuttles. Did you say you have a boyfriend and a girlfriend?

[...this might be important to him for Reasons. He didn't know that was a possible thing.]

[Cloudy is pleased and so her tail sets to wagging just a little bit faster.]

Hm? [Joseph's eyebrows rise before the question settles in and then he grins. Of course, it's not like his usual boisterous smile. It's a little too soft to be that.] Oh, yeah, I do! It can be kinda hard for other people to understand sometimes, but you know, it was just Caesar and me here for a while. Things were good, but it's not the same without having Suzie around, too.

So, when Suzie finally got here, it just made sense. We all love each other the same way, and none of us want to have to try and decide. It'd be like trying to figure out how to get by with only half your heart. [It's at this point, Joseph starts absentmindedly fiddling with a ring on one of his fingers.] They're both pretty incredible and strong people, for different reasons. I couldn't get by and do the things I do without both of them there, and there isn't anything I wouldn't do for either of them. So, it's the three of us together now and nothing's going to break us apart.

[And there's that loud, boisterous grin as he starts to laugh.]

Plus, they're both pretty damn good-looking. But don't worry, you'll get used to me having all the luck like that if you stick around.

[Finn listens with what can only be described as rapt attention. His captain's explanation makes sense - what if you love more than one person? If it would break your heart to have to choose between them, why not take another option altogether? Just because he hadn't encountered it before--well, that didn't mean anything at all. He hasn't encountered a lot of things before.]

That way you don't have to break their heart, either. Yeah. And--they don't get jealous or anything?

[At his description of their looks, Finn grins widely.] Oh, I see how it is. You're gonna save some luck for the rest of us though, right? We are your loyal crew here.

Nah, no one needs to get jealous, [Joseph says with a shrug of his shoulder.] I mean, in the beginning, I sometimes felt a little guilty if say I spent a lot of time with Suzie without Caesar, or vice versa just because I was worried one of them might feel neglected or something. But it doesn't bother me when they spend time together without me, so after a while, I realized it probably wouldn't bother either one of them.

[And they are much less prone to pay attention to meeeeeee syndrome compared to Joseph. If any of the three were likely to be bothered about it, it'd be Joseph and not either one of those two. So, it's just not likely that there will ever actually be a problem with something like that.]

I'll do what I can because I always try to take care of my crew, but I make no promises about how much luck's gonna be leftover. You might have to do a little scavenging for it.

[Finn nods along, still wearing a bit of an awestruck expression. It makes a frightening amount of sense, and if he finds himself watching the captain's interactions with his boyfriend and girlfriend in the future, this is probably why.] Yeah. Yeah, I don't mean to pry or anything, but--thanks. For telling me. It makes a lot of sense.

I can do that. Best friend's a scavenger.

Is that right? Best friend back home or one here?

[Joseph really does try to make an effort to know his crew. He always has, but especially ever since he became captain. So with that window open, Joseph goes on ahead and takes it.]

Back home. [He looks wistful for a moment.] Her name's Rey, if she ever shows up here. She's a pilot, too.

[His best friends are all pilots for some reason.]

[Hey, pilots are good people to know. — A Jojo's Opinion]

Yeah? I'll be sure to keep an eye out for her then. [And he will. First sign of someone who's name is Rey and/or might seem like a pilot (pre-augment), he'll investigate. Though he has the sneaking suspicion that Finn would beat him to the punch.] You got anybody from home already here?

[It's a Finn Opinion, too. He can't fly for crap.]

Appreciate it.

Uh, sorta. There's a bunch of people from home, but they're all from, like, thirty years ago. Or more. Except one, who's form ten years ago, but a different timeline cause she talks about stuff I'm pretty sure never happened to my version of things.

[Joseph makes a faces that's caught somewhere between being mildly sympathetic, but also clearly having a hard time wrapping his head around all of that.]

And here I thought it was weird that my mum's from a couple days after what I remember, and Suzie's from a couple before... How do you guys keep it all straight?

[He shrugs.]

Basically, I don't tell 'em anything they don't already know except in general terms. It's pretty easy - they're mostly either from before the founding of the Empire, or from right after the fall.

[Finn grins and looks down.]

Actually, I mostly just ask them about themselves so I don't have to talk about myself.

Edited 2016-04-25 04:29 (UTC)

Why don't you talk about yourself with them? They must want to know something about you, too.

[Maybe not at first when Finn was probably lobbing question after question after them, but there has to come a certain point when being questioned where you just have to know something about the person asking.]

Well.

[So he doesn't have to lie?]

A lot of it's tied up in bad stuff that happens to some of them. Rather they not have to deal with it.

Oh...

[Joseph rubs at the back of his head a little.]

They're probably going to ask eventually though, you know. You're not planning on lying to them, are you?

If they asked, I'd still tell 'em they don't want to know.

[He smiles, a little ruefully.]

But I'd tell 'em if they really did want to know after that.

I don't know them, obviously, but they'd probably feel better in the long run knowing the truth.

[Speaking as someone who had truth about the past, you know, stretched and mildly modified.]

So it's good that you let them make the decision for themselves.

[He nods and smiles down at the floor.]

Well, that and they'd kick my ass if they knew I was keeping secrets from them.

[Joseph chuckles.]

Well, that's always good incentive. That's a sign of a good friendship though.

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forcesensitive - 2016-05-09 17:32 (UTC) - Expand

first one to make that doctor who joke loses

a - backdated to some nebulous date

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