SS Hot Mess shows up to mingles 15 minutes late with Starbucks

[notzubats]

Who: The Huntress Crew and Visitors
Broadcast: Maybe!!
Action: SS Huntress!
When: From now until end of the system!

[There's been an elf invasion! And an Ellen Page invasion! Also there's a star system! Come in Huntress, it's been awhile, so it's time for a mingle! ]

Comments

[hearsthesea]

[Shirley's just visiting for the time being, although she's still asking herself whether she wants to come back after the disappearance and return that brought her to the Three Twins as of late. It's been a while since her last visit, thanks to working on the ships' bugs earlier and her studying and her own hesitation to invite herself over, but once Dezel's asked her she can't exactly stay away.

Today she's come bearing gifts - specifically, some fresh homemade muffins. She'll be coming around all the public (or at least non-private) areas of the ship, looking for faces new and old.]

[bythewaves]

[ Have an elf turn the corner and blink, bowing to her politely ]

Good day, milady - I do not think I have met you before - are you new?

[hearsthesea]

[And it's someone new! Shirley returns the bow and smiles.]

Yes and no. My name is Shirley, and I used to be on the Huntress until I was...transferred off, you could say. Right now I'm not a member of this ship, only visiting for today.

[bythewaves]

[ He smiles and offers his arm to escort her, if she likes ]

Well met, milady Shirley. Maglor, at your service. Welcome back, I suppose I should say - is there anyone you are meeting?

[hearsthesea]

[Oh, how charming. Shirley appreciates the gesture but doesn't want Maglor to go to the effort, so she waves him off.]

It's all right. It's nice to meet you, Maglor. I'm not looking for anyone in particular today. I just want to see who's on board now, and how things are on the Huntress.

[Like making sure nobody's set the kitchen on fire, like has apparently happened in her absence. Though then again, they've had that on the Three Twins too thanks to a sponsor prank...anyway.]

Have you been here long?

[bythewaves]

The answer to that, I think, is that we are doing surprisingly well? We are currently quite full, crew wise, I believe.

[ He shakes his head ] Not very long - a scant few months, I think. What of yourself?

[hearsthesea]

Ah...that's related to the reason I'm not on the Huntress anymore, actually. I was here for about nine months, and then I was gone for about that long. I came back a few months ago, so now although it's been over a year and a half I don't remember half of that time.

[It's still weird to think about it, but she's trying not to let it get her down. At least she remembers the time she spent here.]

But I'm fine now. It's not something I could have prepared for, so I'm trying to catch up now.

[bythewaves]

How strange. [ Maglor murmurs thoughtfully ]

Where were you, during the time you were gone? I am glad you took no ill.

[hearsthesea]

I don't know. The last thing I remembered before the Marsiva, I was in my old room here. I knew somebody who went through the same thing so I could recognize what had happened, but I still don't understand what happened between those times.

But it's all right. I know that I won't be able to find out right now.

[She's a little concerned and she sounds it, but she really is fine.]

[bythewaves]

That is a disturbing tale. [ Maglor frowns thoughtfully ]

Although I am glad you came to no harm in that period. I wonder how common it is that such things happen, and why.

[hearsthesea]

It's happened to a few other people, but I haven't talked to anyone who knows a reason why. I don't think it was because my ratings were very high.

[Show biz is so mysterious.]

I lost this tag I AM SO SORRY

[bythewaves]

I confess I do not understand how the ratings work either - and must admit to being dubious as to how we are being watched! But I am glad that you came to no harm, either way.

No problem! I'm also late...

[hearsthesea]

Right. I don't know how it all works either, but I do have that to be glad for. It's...nice to be back here, in a way. Some of my friends from before are still here.

BACKDATED

[monolike]

[There's definitely quite a racket happening down in engineering; someone's talking to himself about various ship parts, the lower half of his body sticking out of an access panel as he noodles around in the vital guts of the ship that keep all of them alive and breathing.]

Hmm...is that supposed to be dripping that? [Clank. Click click click.] I should probably clean that up. Where are you little wrench guy? Are you- urgh. Oh there you are.

[hearsthesea]

[...Well, that's something. Someone in engineering is new in itself, considering the Huntress never had any engineers in the whole time she'd been there before. It brings to mind a conversation she had the last time she visited, though, and even if Shirley can't see who's under that panel odds are decent that he's got spiky brown hair and green eyes. Engine grease, maybe not at the moment.

She considers trying to get Sorey's attention, but he's very clearly in the middle of something and it would be rude to interrupt. She stands back and waits to see if he'll be done anytime soon instead. No way to tell if he's fixed that drip, but maybe he's got it?]

[monolike]

[Sorey proceeds to talk to the drip he's fixing before he wiggles back out of the panel, humming some nonsense song to himself. He picks up his rag and starts wiping off his hands when he spots Shirley by the door and jumps.]

Whoa! [CLANG. Hit his head on the paneling.] Ouch- Ah, c-can I help you? [rubs at his head. why do girls keep sneaking up on him while he's working in here? that smoke seraph lady, now this girl who is giving off some SERIOUS spiritual vibes...]

[hearsthesea]

[Ouch. Shirley winces - so much for saving some trouble. Now she knows she's got the right guy, though, unless there's two brown-haired engineers on the ship.]

I'm sorry, I didn't mean to startle you! Um....you're Sorey, aren't you? Mikleo told me about you.

[monolike]

Oh no! It's- I just get wrapped up when I'm working, not your fault. [Pushes himself up and wipes his hands down, though it's not quite enough.]

Sorry about that. Mikleo's talking about me again, huh?

[hearsthesea]

Well, he had good things to say about you. And it was related to something we were talking about.

[Which would be the reason she was hoping to meet him. It's a little weird now, trying to bring it up suddenly, but Sorey sure isn't going to know what she's talking about if she doesn't say.]

You're a Shepherd, aren't you? I have a role something like that where I come from, too.

[monolike]

Ah... [so that's what it was about.]

-I'm so sorry, I haven't even asked you your name. Hold on, I can- engineering's not really meant for entertaining, but. [Drags over a crate and drapes a clean uniform coat over it for her to sit down.] Please. [he gestures.]

[hearsthesea]

Oh - thank you.

[How considerate. Shirley sits down as requested, hands clasped in her lap, thinking of what to say. Strange as it is, she really wants to make a good impression right now - even if it may not last.]

I didn't introduce myself either, so I'm sorry for that. My name is Shirley. I've talked with Mikleo a few times for different reasons, and as I said...at home, I'm what people call the Merines. It's not the same as a Shepherd, but still when I found out you were one I wanted to meet you.

[monolike]

[He just learned how to be hospitable like four months ago, are you impressed?

At mention of this 'Merines' and her being intrigued by the Shepherd legend, Sorey plops down crosslegged on the floor right in front of her like this is storytime. 'Cause it is.]

Really? [Mikleo must've told her about the Shepherd already, so it's totally not rude to start asking questions, right?] What does the Merines do? Is it a title? Or is it like an inherited power, or bloodline? Is it- [stop him]

[hearsthesea]

[Oh. Um. Shirley's a little flustered by the stream of questions, and she has to scramble to try and answer them all.]

Just a moment! Um...the Merines is a title, and it's given to those who are able to hear the voice of Nerifes, the sea of my own world. The Ferines people follow the will of the sea, and the Merines carries out that will as its agent. For that reason the Merines is seen as the hope of the Ferines, but...well, it's a long story. It's a serious one, too.

[That story is one she wants to share with Sorey as long as he's willing, despite her less than exemplary role in it. Shirley has a few reasons for wanting to meet him, but the fact that she might find someone who also understands the weight of people's hopes and futures is one of the more selfish ones.]

[monolike]

[Ooh boy. 'Serious' story usually means painful story. As much as Sorey loves learning about cultures and history, that this is going to be difficult for Shirley to tell him overrides any potential excitement.]

Ah. All right, I'm listening. [Still attentive, but at least he looks less like he's excited to be in class and more like he's prepared to treat what she has to say with the proper amount of gravity.]

[hearsthesea]

Thank you, Sorey.

[His energy helps, at least. Even if she's not proud of what she has to say next.]

As I said, the Merines hears the voice of the sea and acts as its agent. I'm the first Merines in four thousand years. With my name I carry the hopes of thousands of years of Ferines hopes, and with the power I have as Merines I wanted to make people happy...but until recently, those hopes were focused on the destruction of the land and the Orerines who created it.

[She pauses for a brief second to let that sink in. It's heavy, and she knows it. But that's not her ultimate point so she keeps going before Sorey starts thinking it is.]

I nearly went through it. I wanted to believe that the Ferines and Orerines could live together, but I was too afraid to trust the Orerines enough and I would have killed them all if not for my friends. It's thanks to their support that I was able to change myself and handle the responsibility of being Merines. So now...I am the Merines, but I chose another way to carry out my duty for the good of the Ferines and the Orerines. Instead of destroying one for the other, I'm trying to find a path both can walk along together. And when I heard about the Shepherd from Mikleo, I thought we might have something in common.

[She finishes a little awkwardly, shifting around uncomfortably where she sits to gauge Sorey's reaction. Shirley's learned her lessons about shyness and she's always been dedicated in using her past behavior as an example of what not to do, but no matter how many times she admonishes herself fear of rejection never totally goes away.]