DEBBIE DOWNER STRIKES AGAIN: a video

[broroona]

Who: bawhona Baroona
Broadcast: video
Action: SS Marsiva hospitality deck
When: idk 10/9 late at night, whenever that is

[The camera's set at an upward angle, as if placed on the floor. It shows a sliver of one of the hospitality deck windows and a man leaning against it, smoking. His clothing choices are... strange; a bright orange ski hat, a pair of pink and black gloves that might seem familiar-it seems more like a collection than an outfit. When he moves exhaustion slows him and though expressionless, there's a cloud of sadness that lingers around him.

Basically, he's being a moody spaceshit at some ungodly hour. Hi.]

You know-[He taps his knuckles against the windows, knocking some ash from his cigarette in the process.]-I used to watch the sky back home. Sounds dumb but there was something comforting about it.

[Sighing out a cloud of smoke, he stands up straight, slipping the cigarette between his lips again. His tone shifts from wistful to dry.] This view sucks. They're not stars anymore like this. Just places that are too far away.

[With another sigh, he frowns briefly, turning and pressing his back against the view, scrubbing at his hair. Looking way too done with all of this.]

I'm tired. Talking too much. [He kicks the comm, turning the camera so that it's looking straight out the window. A full view of the stars.] If you're awake, humor me. Which do you think is your home?

Comments

[broroona]

Constellations. [He sighs.] You could have said so in the first place. All that other stuff was just confusing.

[heresyandlace]

Is that your name for it?

[he also sighs!]

You said you wanted to hear a story, so that's what I was giving you.

[broroona]

[Plainly:] That's everyone's name for it.

But fine, fine. [He waves a hand.] I'm still listening. Keep going.

[heresyandlace]

It's not my name for it.

[he huffs a little]

I don't know if you really want a story. I think you'd rather complain.

[broroona]

[A frown.]

They're not complaints. They're corrections.

[He leans back, waving his cigarette hand for him to continue.] You're being too sensitive. Keep going. I'll shut up if it makes you feel better.

[Look, he's even closing his eyes, ok? No more interruptions.]

[heresyandlace]

[another sigh, just to make damn clear that he's displeased with this guy's performance as an audience so far. and if he didn't really, truly enjoy stories so much, he wouldn't continue at all.]

...As I was trying to say-- there was a valley, and mountains, and an ice dragon. He was a horrible blight upon the land. And nothing was actually made of stars.

[broroona]

[Baroona's eyes remain closed but his lips purse together in a fruitless attempt to block a satisfied smile. Still, a promise is a promise. He holds a finger to his lips and doesn't interrupt. See? He's being good. Keep going.]

[heresyandlace]

[oh, don't act so smug. the pause in the story that follows then, is Tek taking another moment to frown. but it would be bad form to end his story now, once he's committed to carrying on.]

So, this dragon and his icy followers slowly encroached down the mountains, draining the life out of the land as they went. Eventually, only a little glade in the middle of the valley remained, guarded by a brave dragoness.

She was a creature of storms and energy, and her zeal lasted against the icelord for a time.

But it couldn't last forever. She was finally overpowered after a grand battle, leaving her two orphaned children alone to fend for themselves.

[broroona]

[The smile slips away and gradually his eyes slip open, sharp and piercing from what little can be glimpsed from the position of the camera. Dragons and magical battles had never impressed him much, but orphans, the lonely children, those always held interest. No matter what.

Still, he keeps quiet, revealing nothing but an almost unnerving amount of attention contained in a single stare.]

[heresyandlace]

[and now it's his turn to smile quietly to himself. he always enjoys finding the hook.]

The ice king enjoyed their look of fear, and so left them alive. He lingered to taunt them with the death of their mother, the futility of her fight, and he warned them that he would return to destroy the remainder of their valley very soon.

And so, he retired up the mountain to his keep, and the children were left with their grief and the weight of where to go on from there.

The thought of fleeing the valley was ruled out quickly. The two storm-children were the last keepers of the valley, now. If they didn't do something, their mother's struggle truly would have been in vain.

So, they sat together and spoke aloud a vow to fight and end the reign of ice once and for all. And after the last word, they shut their mouths tight and headed up the mountain in silence.

[broroona]

[Aw, damn. He frowns slightly, briefly, displeased by the small victory gained. Taking a drag from his cigarette, he turns his head away, contemplating asking a soft, simple "did they win?" but knowing it would be too much. Another defeat to the smug asshole on the other side of the line.

No, he'd win this.

The drag helps steel his expression again and he turns back when the smoke is exhaled in a long, thick cloud. Bored as he looks now, he gives a small gesture to continue.]

[heresyandlace]

[not to be put off by the guy's apparent lack of interest, he soldiers on. it's fortunate that he at least he has a good storytelling voice. he sounds less like a douchebag this way.]

Storms quickly lose energy and freeze up in the snow, and so the children weakened as they traveled up the mountain. All along the way, the servants of the ice king tried to tempt them and deter them, trying to interrupt their quest. But the children refused to utter a word or take their eyes from the path.

Despite the blizzards that rolled over them and the pain of slowly freezing, they finally made it to the keep.

And when the icelord saw them, he scarcely recognized their little frostbitten forms. When he did finally realize who they were, he laughed and laughed, telling them that their fool of a mother must have paired with a farm animal to produce such cripplingly dense offspring.

[broroona]

[Alright, the lack of interest is genuine now. Pleasant as his voice is, it won't save the story from the boredom of being so fantastical. Whether the kids lived or died, it wouldn't matter. The story was too ideal with no humanity held within. He was expecting a journey, an adventure, not a trial that bordered on religious parable.

Still, gracious as he is, he keeps his mouth shut, though his attention does seem to slowly go elsewhere-shifting his position, glancing at the stars, putting out his tired cigarette.]

[heresyandlace]

[well, Tek likes this story very much, and even smirks over the last bit because he thinks it's funny. ignoring the other guy's lack of interest, if he notices at all, he carries on]

And still the children did not answer. They waited until he came close before they finally opened their mouths. They'd managed to keep their promise, never once becoming distracted or uttering a word since they'd made their promise. It had kept all of their energy and determination welled up inside, making them more formidable than the ice king ever could have imagined. Because how could two children possibly harm a lord?

All of the fury of the storm that rode in their bloodline raged out at once. The two children spent the last of their energy striking down the beast, in a pair of lightning bolts that lit the sky for miles.

...And if the proper stars had been out your window, I could have pointed out the two bright points of light that mark their sacrifice. So, again, you'll just have to pretend.