driftfleet | Let's all hold hands and sing Kumbaya

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Let's all hold hands and sing Kumbaya

Who: Everybody! It's a planet mingle!
Broadcast: If You want!
Action: On the Holding Hands plant!
When: From June 23 until whenever we need a new mingle.

[At long last, the fleet has arrived to a new planet. This means it's time for a mingle guys! Get in! ]

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[ The planet is lovely, but there's only so much of it Winter allows himself to go. The marketplace is too crowded and people keep trying to touch him. The forest is nice, but with his leg still irritating him, it's a little more cumbersome to navigate. On the beach, he can sit by himself, though there are people yards away enjoying themselves.

Winter sits far enough up the beach that when the tide starts rolling in, he won't be victim to it. His shoes are off, at least, and his toes in the sand. He can vaguely remember doing something similar when he was younger, though he doesn't have a clear picture of it.

He spots a woman frolicking in the surf and watches. It doesn't take long for him to identify Misty. He doesn't say anything or call to her, because he'd heard she was on the Iskaulit when he'd lost control. How badly had he hurt her? ]

[Misty is, unsurprisingly, singing as she dances through the waves. Specifically, she's singing Never Going Back Again. It wasn't a particular favorite of hers before she came to the fleet but now it seems to fit her life so well. For a while, she doesn't notice Winter further up the beach, lost as she is in her song. Eventually though, she'll see him and her song comes to an abrupt stop. She doesn't say anything, just stands at a distance and stares. Her heart is racing with anticipation and uncertainty and a little fear. He looks like him, looks like he should be, but still, she's not ready to approach, not yet.]

[ He doesn't blame her for her hesitation, but it's not encouraging. It tells him all he needs to know. She doesn't trust him. At least she's not moving around like she's injured, but that doesn't necessarily tell him that she hadn't been..

Fuck.

Winter offers her a small nod. He sees her, is acknowledging her presence, but not moving from his position. Maybe he should leave the beach to make her more comfortable. He doesn't know what the criteria for this is. ]

[The nod is enough. What he was before, the man who attacked her, he wouldn't have nodded. He had looked at her as if she was nothing, just an ant to be squashed.

So she moves cautiously forward, though she's still well out of striking distance.]

Hi.

[ Winter stays sitting, busted left arm draped across his leg. Standing could be seen as threatening. He looks up at her, his brow furrowed.

Probably an expression she's seen more than once cross his face during his attempts at meditation. ]

..Hi. [ He pauses, not sure how to follow that up. Instead, he blurts out: ]

This planet is better than the last one.

[Her gaze falls upon his arm, all busted up. Compared to Wrath, though, that's nothing. Probably it's a good thing she herself got knocked out early on and that they didn't keep fighting.

When he speaks, she looks back up at his face, at that familiar expression of his and her own softens. Poor Winter. She ventures closer, then kneels down in front of him.]

I wouldn't mind staying here forever, if I could.

[ He's grateful nobody got hurt worse than Wrath. Hell, he'll feel guilty about what he did to her until the day he dies. His own crew that he hurt is on the mend, too, so that's going to be something Winter will be concerned about for a long time.

Misty gets closer and he shifts slightly, curling his toes against the sand. ]

I think this is my favorite place we've stopped. Minus the touching..

[ That, he's not really a fan of. ]

They don't mean any harm by it, so I don't mind. It's nice to touch, when you like each other and I like the people here.

[She draws a spiral in the sand with her forefinger, just to have something else to look at.]

But I guess it can be really scary too, huh?

Still don't like being touched.

[ Not by strangers and when emotions are on display like that. He's still damn afraid that he's going to lose his damn mind again, so the less people around, the better. It would probably be easier to read him if he did try it their way.

Maybe if it were someone he were familiar with.. but not for long. ]

People need touch. We need other people, our own tribe, so we don't get trapped inside our own selves.

That's probably true for most people.

[ He trusts very few people within close proximity to touch him, though within the past six months, the number has gone up. Winter considers the possibility that he should go back to nobody. ]

[Misty wipes away her sandy spiral, then looks back up at him.]

It ain't your fault you know.

I still did it.

[ Doesn't matter if it's his fault or not, he still did it. He's more than willing to take the blame for it. ]

I know, but I forgive you, even if you can't forgive yourself yet.

How badly did I hurt you?

Oh... you knocked me out for a few days. But you don't have to worry about me none, I'm a lot tougher than I look.

[Some false bravado there for you, Winter. She's not entirely lying of course - Misty's damn hard to kill - but the fighting and the injuries aren't what scared her. That she can handle. Fights are nothing. It was the way he looked at her that scared her more than anything. It was like someone took the very soul out of him.]

[ A few days? Christ. Really, it doesn't make him feel any better. He hit her hard enough that she was unconscious for days. It could have been so much fucking worse. ]

..Going to, anyway. [ Can't stop him from doing that, Misty. ]

[Her cheeks flush red.]

That's because you're a good person, whatever that thing in your head tells you.

Dunno about all that. Just wanted something different, here.

[ He shrugs a shoulder. Maybe he doesn't deserve it in any life and the universe was just trying to set him straight. ]

Me too.

[Then finally, she moves the rest of the way up to sit next to him, though she's careful not to touch, however much she may want to.]

D'you want me to sing to you again?

[ He's surprised by her question, mainly because it's the last thing he expects from her. Even though she's clearly forgiven him. ]

You don't have to. [ he won't stop her, but.. ]

But I want to.

[It's the closest thing she can offer to a hug right now.]

If you want, I'd like that.

[ If it was from Misty, he wouldn't deny her a hug, but he's grateful for her respect of his personal space. ]

(continued here)

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Let's all hold hands and sing Kumbaya

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