driftfleet | And We Danced (Masquerade Overflow!)

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And We Danced (Masquerade Overflow!)

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- Original Mingle
- OOC Post

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I don't know? The only reason I know about the manufacture at all is because I had a plasma sword. But without the plasma generator on, they were good as regular swords too.

[And now by a 42-year-old woman. Moving up in the world, Erik?] Wow...

So you could like. Rip my bones out of my body if you wanted?

I could. [A beat.] But I don't have a reason to.

[If he's expecting some kind of normal human afraid of the powerful mutant reaction, he's not going to get it. Wrath just grins.] Oh, that's so cool! What a useful ability. I'm glad for you!

Wow. Man, I wish we'd had you in the City War. You would've been like a fucking platoon of one. [He wouldn't have had quite as much of an overwhelming advantage on the Line. Dysthropes didn't come with metal weapons.]

My name's Wrath, by the way. What's yours?

You're not the first person to say you wish I'd fought a war for you. [In a way, it's flattering. But in another, he's dismissive of it. He has no interest in fighting any wars other than his own.]

[It takes him a moment to answer, just shy of hesitancy.] It's Erik. [He'd told Charles he would move away from using Blade as a name. He may as well begin.]

[A little squint.] No, that's not what I meant. With, not for. That's a big difference. [There's an implication of sending other people out to die in a fight you lack the conviction to have that she really finds repugnant. She's a soldier, first and always.]

[Erik... that's familiar. Oh!] Erik as in Charles's partner Erik? [Sunny smile. Is it that common of a name in the Fleet? Not that she's noticed, but she's not that observant.]

[The only response he gives is a light hum. People who exclaim over his powers and their prospective uses in their own battles - maybe that's not what they think they're saying. But it's what he hears. His talents could end wars with droids, as Kenobi said, or best a lot of foes like Wrath is implying. What else is it, other than imagining what could be done with him as a weapon?

The mention of Charles lightens the mood, however.] Oh, dear, my reputation precedes me. Or my partner does, at least.

[Hmm if her own.] ... Though I guess you would have been as proper fucked as the rest of us when the dysthrophy hit so I'm really glad you weren't there.

[Anyway. Yay, she was right!]

Charles is so nice. And kind. He taught me how to play chess tonight. And said he wouldn't bullshit me. So you're very lucky, you have a cute partner and so does he.

[There's a lot he could comment on. He's not used to being complimented for this particular reason. Not that he minds, it's just... unusual, to have his relationship discussed in this way.]

Are you calling me cute.

[So he'll focus on that, instead.]

Well, yeah. [Duh. Erik have you looked at yourself lately.]

I'd be jealous cause you're partners and don't share, but that would be an asshole way to feel, so I'm not.

[Thinks back over her words.]

Sorry, that was probably inappropriate to say, I know you guys are from history and stuff.

But anyway, I'm really glad you have each other, you're a super cute couple!

[His response is a bit dry... and belated.] I've been told I'm from history before, don't worry. [He still finds laptops confusing.]

...Thank you, I suppose. [Compliments on his relationship: such a new world to him.] We've worked hard on it.

I'm from the 3163. [If that helps.] It's really cool to meet people from Earth, I've never been there.

Aww, I'm glad. It seems like the kind of thing that's worth working hard on, so I'm really glad for you guys. And you get to be together here!

That's... very far in the future.

We do, though I'd rather we be together back home.

Weird, right? But I guess that means people are still around, so yay? And aliens.

Yeah, that would be better and I'm sorry that's not what's going on. I... like it here. It's a lot better than home, though I miss my friends a lot.

I have met some aliens here, in fact. [Preferable to humans, really.] So, you don't mind being held against your will? [It's a pointed question, and a bit unfair, given she just admitted that she likes it here. But it's not a viewpoint he can understand, having spent so long trying to get home from other places. His world is awful. That's why he needs to go back - to change it.]

Oh, awesome!

[She just looks at him.] Where I come from, the Office of Compliance makes people want to behave. Makes them. They take you away and either you come back fixed or don't come back at all and everyone forgets you ever existed. And the dysthropes were out there, waiting to tear the dome down. And I couldn't do jack shit about anything because my back is fucked and no one could fix it, and the Office of Compliance was after me.

So yeah. It's better here.

[There's a slight hardening in his expression, but the revulsion he feels goes far deeper. A form of brainwashing and control, then. Purging undesirables, or those who don't fit in. Again, he reflects on the fact that humanity doesn't change, no matter how far into the future they go. Hoping they would and waiting for that day is pointless.]

I see. Still, we have things wired into our brains. I doubt that's benign behaviour. [Not to mention, it's a short cut for them to enforce complicity, should they desire it. He's seen people taken over before, puppeted by those who have the ability and the whim.]

[By way of answering, she sweeps her hair away from the back of her neck to show the port installed at the base of her skull. It's obviously rather damaged--from that big fall she took if nothing else.

And she shrugs. Been there, done that, basically.]

They're supposed to protect us from the dysthrophy, but Beverly said she thinks that's not true.

[He's revolted. It only shows in a narrowing of his eyes. After a moment, he manages to speak in a calm voice.]

Dysthrophy?

A plague. Everyone thinks it was a bioweapon used in the war, but no one knows who did it. If you get infected, you go crazy and grow like extra arms and shit and try to eat people.

Killed all of the cities on my planet except mine, in the end. That's why we had to build the dome. Well, that and because the chemical warfare fucked the terraforming to hell. That's what the Line was. The army held the Line around the city while the dome was built.

[He takes that all in silence. Eventually, he ventures this:]

I'm beginning to see why you find the Fleet preferable. [If it were him, he'd still want to return. Set things to right. Smash obstacles in the way of that.]

Yeah, I wish my friends were here with me. So they'd be safer too.

And I feel bad about it. But like... I was fucking useless, back home. Since I broke my back and got turfed out of the army. Dead weight.

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And We Danced (Masquerade Overflow!)

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