driftfleet | Masquerade Mingle

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Masquerade Mingle

[The night has finally come--the Gravity Rush is nearly upon us! What normally serves as a large performance hall has been gutted, emptied of its boring furniture and rigged up into a fantastical mismatch of technology and old culture. No matter where you go tonight, you're encouraged to move around, dance, play games, whatever helps you sleep in late tomorrow morning.

If you aren't one for scurrying around a ballroom all night, there's always plenty of people-watching to do. After all, so many people are wearing extravagant costumes and elaborate masks. How can you even tell who is who? Get lost in a crowd of sequins, chatter with a sun and a moon, or try to beat the guy in the monster-mask at a game of cards. Meet your friends or make some new ones--this masquerade party has begun!]

[[ooc: All sections are up now, have fun! A related ooc post is HERE for any questions or plotting you'd like to do.]]

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_{[ Kirk laughs quietly, doing his best to keep leading, though to be honest he had been moving more on instinct with the music than actually trying to step properly as they'd talked. ]}

James Tiberius Kirk - but Jim is just fine.

So, if you can fly - is that a normal thing where you come from, or are you like a superhero?

[ When Jim struggles, Apollo nudges him, never taking over leading but definitely confident in supporting the steps. ]

I'm a superhero, on an Earth.

_{[ He appreciates it, Apollo, really. ]}

You're the second one I've met since coming here. Is flying your only super power?

[ Apollo gives a warm smile. ]

No, not all. I'm stronger, faster, tougher, I have laser eyes, I charge on solar energy and can explode and direct it from my body. I'm immune to heat and light and eating and drinking and breathing are technically optional for me, but I enjoy doing all of them.

I was made to be the superhero other superheroes look up to.

Made?

_{[ He cocked his head, that last bit the most curious part, though he would circle back around to the drinking and breathing part. Besides... that seemed an odd thing not to need to do. But it was a curious and vast universe, wasn't it? ]}

Mm.

[ Apollo follows for a couple more steps before actually replying. ]

I was made. I don't know how. The information and technology is all lost now. My ex-husband and I were both made as part of a covert post-human strike squad. Post-human is the term in my world for anyone with, well, superpowers.

_{[ He is quiet, letting Apollo take his time to tell if he wishes, or to refuse. Kirk would have understood if he did. They had only just met, after all. He hardly expected the man to spill all his secrets to him, much less confide one in him, if secret it was.

He was quiet a moment when the other finished speaking, turning it over in his head and thinking that it sounded perhaps a bit to much like what Khan had told him, humans created to be better, stronger, more perfect. Nothing like what Apollo was, with the lasers and the flying. But it still rang to close for comfort, not that he thought Apollo was anything like Khan.

He very sincerely doubted Khan could glow with pride at the mention of his child. ]}

I'm guessing you're not part of it anymore?

_{[ A guess, based on the past tense. Concern flickers through those bright blue eyes as he gazed slightly up at Apollo. ]}

[ It wasn't a secret. After so many years, it isn't even raw anymore, he doesn't see their deaths when he sleeps and he sleeps easily knowing Bendix was fried to a crisp at Jenny Sparks' fingertips.

He nods, confirming the assumption. His own bright blue eyes catch and hold Jim's comfortably. Eye contact doesn't threaten him. ]

Midnighter and I were the only survivors. It was a long time ago, twelve years? Thirteen? My entire lifetime.

Anyway, tell me about your world, Jim.

_{[ He nodded, accepting the change of subject for what it was. He was surprised that Apollo had told him as much as he had, but he was appreciative of it too. He thought it showed how strong Apollo was.

He hummed as he considered what to say about his own world, especially now that he had come to the conclusion that the Prime Directive just couldn't be applied here. ]}

My world... well, we don't have super heroes, sad to say. But we're getting out into the universe. I'm actually a captain of a star ship in Star Fleet - an organization in my world whose mission it is to explore the universe.

[ Apollo was very used to being an open book about his life and the hardships that had happened. But he listened to Jim attentively, nodding slightly and then picking up. ]

Oh wow, that sounds amazing. Humanity has made contact with quite a few aliens, but we're not so good at travelling out into the solar system ourselves. We're basically limited to inside the asteroid belt at the moment and by that, I really mean that exploring the moon and mars is about the best we've managed overall.

What's it like? Do you have a mixed species crew? You seem very young to be a captain.

_{[ He perked up at the questions, glad he was not boring Apollo. Compared to the other's own life story, he thought he was rather banal by comparison. ]}

We've gone quite a bit further than the moon. We're well into other systems now thanks to our warp engines. We can reach the furthers reaches of the Federation within a day or two now. It's just... fantastic, really. You think it'd make you feel small, but it just makes me wonder how much else there is, what else out there we can learn and discover. It's comforting, kind of - knowing that there will always be something new.

And yeah, I do. My First Lieutenant is a Vulcan, which was the first race to contact us after we achieved warp. The majority is human, still, but that's probably because the Federation is based on Earth. But I do have a good percentage of my crew as non-human.

You would also be right about my being young. I'm twenty-seven now, but I was made captain at twenty-five. Youngest in Fleet history.

_{[ Don't mind his chest puffing a little at that, Apollo. ]}

[ Far from boring, he was clearly actually interested, not just feigning it.

It sounds wonderful, to be out there with them, rather than all too often victims of alien predation and breeding programs.

He gives Jim a flirty wink. ]

You're definitely toy boy age compared to me, then. Youngest captain, in charge of a starship before thirty... what are you going to do next to top that?

_{[ The wink makes him grin, his own blue eyes sparkling with a hint of mischief. ]}

I think stealing a kiss from a super hero would be pretty noteworthy event in my no doubt long and lustrous career.

[ Apollo pretends to consider this and then offers his cheek. ]

Go on then, you cheeky boy.

_{[ He raises his brow and then laughs, leaning in and pressing a kiss - though perhaps he strayed rather close to Apollo's mouth, almost catching the corner of his mouth. It was, perhaps, being a touch forward, but he thought he could risk it given their current rapport. ]}

I'll make sure to note that in my captain's log tonight.

[ Apollo is flirty and he does allow the very cheeky drift to the corner of his mouth but he's also only ever had one relationship in his living memory. ]

You say captain's log, but I hear 'in my diary'.

_{[ He does not press beyond what he is allowed, though he had to admit that if Apollo wanted more, he would happily give it to him. He was a handsome man, and Kirk did appreciate older men. But flirtation is fun all on its own too.

There is a pink touch to his cheeks at that and he shakes his head. ]}

You might not be to far off, actually. Captain's are supposed to keep one though, as a sort of supplemental to official reports filed.

[ When they get to know each other better, Apollo might reconsider how close he's willing to get with people who aren't his ex-husband. Or even when Apollo feels a bit more settled about the Fleet in generally.

Suffice to say, it might not be on the cards right now, but it's certainly not off the table. ]

I suppose that makes sense. Naval captains have been doing similar for centuries. Keeping records of travels and conditions.

_{[ He nodded. ]}

It's precisely like that, except I'm out in space, not the high seas. You run into a few more peculiarities.

I can imagine. We run into enough just in our little corner of space. Being out there, beyond our solar system...

[ He wants to fly out there, race between new planets. ]

It's amazing and terrifying in equal measures. Some people aren't so happy to see you, others are, and some... well, some really want to conquer you.

Yeah, I've blown up a few of those would be conquerors in my time.

[ Like God. The giant, ugly alien that terraformed Earth. That thing. ]

A couple of people I know are alien hybrids. Some are great people. Some less so. Much like all people, I guess.

_{[ Oh, well... that is certainly an adventure. And it would help cement Kirk's feelings on 'god' as it were - in that he didn't really believe in a deity. But thank you for saving the Earth, Apollo. ]}

It's just the universe, I think. It's shades of gray, no black and white. It can't possibly be, with so many cultures, and the nature of "good" and "bad" shifting between them.

I haven't blown up any conquerors, but I stopped someone from destroying the Earth, and someone else from starting a war we didn't need.

[ Probably true that, that the universe is just shades of grey. ]

Blowing up is just my personal preference.

That's pretty damn impressive there. Saving an entire planet.

_{[ He ducked his head for a second, though not in embarrassment. It's to hide a flicker of sadness. He saved one planet, but they lost another. He recovers quickly and looks back up, smile back in place. ]}

It's one of the reasons I became a captain so soon. Once you save the Earth, it just seems like a natural next step, you know?

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