(no subject)

[complicatedliar]

Who: Anyone who wants to hang on the Iskaulit
Broadcast: nah
Action: Iskaulit mingle, darlings
When: All day every day (at least for the month)

[We're drifting, so it's a perfect time to make use of the many fine establishments on our common ship.]

Comments

Bar area

[exothermia]

[Once Hank has gone, Erik sits in the bar for a little while, as the day passes into evening. He's not quite ready to go back to the Heron yet... but there's something he needs to do. So he sends a message to Charles, asking him to come over and meet him outside the bar.]

[axiomed]

[ The message catches Charles by surprise and he runs through his head what it could be before dismissing it and making his way to the Iskaulit. Once he's there, it doesn't take him long to locate Erik. ]

[exothermia]

[Erik has spent most of the day on the Iskaulit for a change, having only briefly gone back with Charles to the Heron after their meditation in the morning. It was as close as he got to a change of pace, at the moment. His stance shifts as Charles comes into view, relaxing slightly.]

Hello. I thought it might be better to go somewhere less cramped.

[axiomed]

[ Even more ominous. Still, Charles is fairly relaxed. ]

I appreciate the gesture. Did something happen?

[exothermia]

I was checking the ship manifests earlier... MacTaggert isn't here anymore.

[axiomed]

[ Oh. His expression crumples briefly in regret. As always, Charles has never done right by Moira. Though at least he made up for his past transgression. But it had been nice to talk to her again.

He wonders if he'll ever seen her again. A mirror to the past. ]

. . . I'm sure Moira will be fine.

[exothermia]

[To Erik's mind, it was a mixed revelation. He had never gotten along with MacTaggert in the time before. After En Sabah Nur, he had come to a more civil place with her, a necessity in those hectic first days after Cairo when the press and the government all wanted to get their stories. As he watches Charles's reaction though, he knows he made the right call in telling him in person. It was always going to matter more to him.]

Yes. She'll be there when we return. [And who knows if she had even gone through the same ten year sleep they had? Imagine trying to explain to the Moira from the sixties what had happened in the eighties. Erik lets out a breath, running a hand through his hair.]

[axiomed]

[ Charles nods. Yes, he doesn't dispute that. Their bond isn't so fragile and now . . . things would be all right. ]

I wish I had said more. Done more.

[exothermia]

You'll have time for that.

[axiomed]

[ He sighs, but there's a faint smile. ]

There's enough time for all of us.

[exothermia]

[Erik's expression clears a little.]

I thought this wasn't something to tell you over the communicator.

[axiomed]

And you're not wrong. I don't think I would have taken the news as well otherwise.

[exothermia]

[He didn't think so. Erik had his own moment of melancholy earlier, upon realising Adelina's name was also gone from the ship lists. He had only gotten to speak to her one more time after coming back. Maybe it was for the best, that she didn't know everything that had happened.]

I know I could have just come back to the ship first. [But it hadn't felt right.]

[axiomed]

Really, Erik. It's fine. Besides, getting out is good for me as well. I can't spend too much time on the Heron.

[exothermia]

It isn't easy, at the moment. [He casts a look back into the bar.] Without a planet.

[axiomed]

I'm sure we'll dock soon enough.

[exothermia]

Probably.

[Erik's enthusiasm isn't that high. Being in space means that everyone on the ships are in closer quarters, though, and that's something he'd prefer to change.]

[axiomed]

[ Charles nods in understanding. ]

Most certainly. They are creatures of routine, in a certain fashion.

[exothermia]

They do follow patterns. So in all likelihood... it won't be long.

[axiomed]

[ He smiles. ]

It sounds pithy, I know. But hang in there?

[exothermia]

I have been. I'm not worried about it.

[The confines of the ship don't rattle him as much as they used to. Either the issue has faded with time, or it has too much competition with his other worries. Erik will never favour confined spaces, but the intense frustration and panic it used to inspire have blunted.]

[axiomed]

Well, if you're not worried, neither am I.

[exothermia]

If we're still lost in space in a month's time, that may change.

[axiomed]

Our captors are nothing if not predictable, though.

[exothermia]

So you've said.

Did you want to head back?