driftfleet | (no subject)

Who: Anders
Broadcast: Video, fleetwide
Action: The Marsiva, if at all
When: Today

[The video turns on to see a bunch of fabric. A keen eye might notice it looks kind've like a skirt. A knowing eye would recognize it as mage's robes. The man holding the communicator isn't paying it any attention beyond having picked it up, he's too busy making kissing noises as he searches the too empty ship.]

Pounce! Ser-Pounce-a-lot! Here, kitty!

[The tone of voice he was using was higher and probably sounded a little ridiculous.]

Please don't have gotten into any trouble...

[But there was definite concern in his tone as the man searched for his missing kitten.
At least until his step staggers and then stops and there's a catch in his breathing that could nearly be called a gasp.]

Well...would you look at that...

[Not that anyone could with the screen still faced away, but Anders had no thought for the device or much of anything aside from his kitten and the large window displaying the vast emptiness of space before him.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[He can see the tells, the signs she's trying to hide and he lets them go. He's been there, trying to hide crushing disappointment and failing. He wished he could offer her a better kindness than his blind-eye.]

Perhaps start with your name and...you were friends, yes? How long had you known him?

[Simple things, to start. Maybe he could tread carefully and avoid saying or doing something that would further upset her. Probably not, though, he was very good at being upsetting and putting his feet where they shouldn't be.]

[Ah but she's good at putting her own feelings away on a shelf. Now that the surprise is past, she'll keep the pleasant mask up, and it'll look natural. She's practiced the stiffness away long ago.]

I'm Syeira, and I'd known...um him a little shy of a year.

Oh...that is a decent amount of time.

[He has to bite back the urge to apologize again. Sympathy wouldn't make the situation any better, he already had it in spades.]

I'm happy to meet...or re-meet you, as it may be.

[He would just have to be careful, for her sake if not his own.]

[This'll be a merry dance of feeling bad for each other if they aren't careful.]

It's okay, Anders. It's a little awkward, yes, but at least we both know I already like and count you as a friend. We'll figure the rest out from there.

[Relief is visible on his face, but the resulting smile is hardly forced.]

Thank you, that's a lot more than I usually start out with, so I'll take it.

[If only you knew what this girl will do for her friends, Anders. You're starting with a lot more than you realize.]

Good. If you need anything, please ask. I like to feel useful.