Sleeping WIth Vultures

[therewerefifty]

Who: Anyone
Broadcast: Fleetwide
Action: Windrose
When: 9/24

[Makie opens her eyes a crack; finally, after a good six weeks.  She feels too heavy and worn out, so something is obviously amiss, though her first thought is maybe she's just ill.  She's had mornings like this in the past, before a friendly angel came and cleared the disease from her lungs.

She's probably also not alone, either.  Well, then.

It might be why, despite how fragilely she shuffles toward the kitchen soon afterward, she looks amazingly content.  Maybe she spent that much time dreaming some good shit, who knows?  Or maybe it's just that she's no longer alone anymore.  Other crew on the Windrose might have noticed she had a visitor in the past few weeks.  Makie's sorry, guys.  Hopefully Lilly didn't break anything :|

When she's woken up some with food and good tea and has caught up with her crew and made sure they're all still in one piece, she'll hit the network, looking tired and pale but courteous as always.]

[Broadcast]

I've been asleep a long time, it seems.

For those who don't know me, my name is Otono-Tachibana Makie.  There's a relatively new addition to the fleet whom some of you may have met.  [And regretted it.]  She's a small child by the name of Lilly, fair-haired, who has... some difficulty communicating.  But she likes to explore.  If you find her on your ship, please treat her well.  If you wish to remove her from your ship, I will retrieve her.

[She's got the best bet of doing it without causing more disaster, at any rate.  Please be nice to her feral child, Fleet.  She asks nicely.]

...thank you in advance.

Have I missed anything important in the last... month? 

Comments

video;

[thetruehistorian]

Lilly? I'm afraid I haven't had the pleasure. What do you mean she has difficulty communicating? Is she mute?

video;

[therewerefifty]

No. She can certainly speak. [There's a ghost of amusement in Makie's expression, but then she grows thoughtful. She's not sure herself of the details of why Lilly is the way she is. It's not like she can ask, and Lilly's past was never all that important. But it does make it hard to explain.

...]

She's somewhat wild. I don't believe she'd spent much time at all in the company of other people before I met her.

[She was also raised by a monster. That much she does guess at. But you know, details.]

video;

[thetruehistorian]

Ah, a question of patience more than disability, then? How did you make her acquaintance?

video;

[therewerefifty]

[Curious one, aren't you.]

She wandered into my home one day. I fed her.

[THAT'S PRETTY MUCH IT]

video;

[thetruehistorian]

[The most curious.]

Well it's no wonder she latched onto you then. Kindness can be difficult to find, at times.

[Video]

[goldenglasses]

Lilly, huh? I'll keep an eye out for her and as long as she doesn't break anything too important on the ship and likes animals she'll be welcomed on the Three Twins.

[He's captain now. He can make these calls.]

[Video]

[therewerefifty]

[One corner of her mouth turns up. She probably won't be all that welcome, then. :D]

What sort of animals do you have on board, Mr Vash?

[Video]

[goldenglasses]

We have a couple dogs. Well, sometimes three. Mostly three. And a cat. Heh, basically we're on our way to having more animals than people on this ship.

[Video]

[therewerefifty]

And are they all fully grown, or still young?

[action]

[passingthrough]

[Would you believe she hasn't noticed? She's spent so much time on the Tourist and when she and Winn were on the Windrose instead it was largely because something had happened and she needed the comfort of feeling "home." She did manage to notice that Makie was in one of the comas. They seemed especially pervasive lately or maybe they were just hitting people she knew more than usual. Regardless she brightens when she sees the other woman awake.] Hey! [A happy-sounding "hey".] You're up. [Obviously.]

[action]

[therewerefifty]

[Up and moving like an old woman, which she suspects is the problem with sleeping for such a long time. Her limbs don't want to work. Nevertheless, she returns the smile, a little relieved.]

Good morning. I suppose it's morning. [It feels like a morning?] How long was I asleep for?

[She knows it's far more than a day, but Lilly can't exactly give her an exact estimate.]

[action]

[passingthrough]

Morning.

[Oh, she gets to be the one to tell her. Too bad she can't be a little more precise but...] About a month. How do you feel? [She knows Winn was stiff when he got up and it was about half that time.]

[action]

[therewerefifty]

[Uh, wow. She wasn't expecting it to be that long, but after a moment, her startled expression smooths out. She honestly is relieved.]

Too weak for my liking. But if I've been asleep for that long... well, if it's just too much sleep I'm sure I'll recover easily enough. [It beats tuberculosis, that's for sure.] I'm sorry if it was inconvenient.

action!!!

[mistyday]

Makie!!!

[Barely will Makie have time to get anything done before she gets a beaming Misty wrapping her arms around her - though as excited as she is to see her friend, Misty is remaining remarkably gentle with her.]

Oh you're awake, I'm so glad!

action!!!

[therewerefifty]

[ALERT ALERT PERSONAL SPACE

...well, actually. It's Misty. That's... well, it's unexpected, but it's more than fine. Makie stands there uncertainly for a moment before she smiles, at first tentatively and them deepening into genuine warmth, hands coming up to return the hug. It's nice, to be honest. To have people miss her.]

I didn't mean to sleep so long. Hello, Misty. Have you been all right?

action!!!

[mistyday]

[Still not quite ready to let go, Misty looks up at Makie.]

Just real worried about you.

[therewerefifty]

I'm sorry, then. I wasn't quite expecting to sleep so long.

[Well, that's an inane thing to say, but she sounds sheepish anyway. She lets her arms drop after a while, though her fingers still touch gently to Misty's sleeves.]

I don't suppose anyone knows why that happens, do they?

action;

[unbearablynaive]

[Once she's done with her broadcast, the Vision makes his way up to the kitchen where she'd been broadcasting from and gives her a smile as he enters.]

Makie. I'm glad to see you're awake.

action;

[therewerefifty]

[Makie's nursing her third cup of tea in as many hours, but she's not slouched over the table the way she was when she came in. Food and drink does wonders, and now she feels only slightly stiff.]

Likewise, I think. I hope I didn't I cause any trouble.

action;

[unbearablynaive]

You've yet to cause us any trouble at all, actually. Though if Lilly could be taught not to track the mud from our new swamp all over the cargo bay, it would make the maintenance bots' lives a bit easier.

[He smiles apologetically; he doesn't at all mind, actually.]

I would say that's the most dramatic change we've had recently; I did convert a bit more of our cargo space over to another new gardening project. It's primarily for Misty's sake.

action;

[therewerefifty]

[Her smile turns rueful at that. Teaching Lilly is difficult, but she can certainly try.]

Until she learns, I'll make sure to assist the bots with the mess. Gardening for Misty? [Hmm...] A herb garden, is it?

action. from earlier. yes.

[motheater]

[Well. You know. She's just perched on the edge of your bed, watching you with bird-of-prey-like intensity. She's probably scaring all your poor fellow shipmates, but whatever, we all know she doesn't care. What does matter is waiting for Makie to wake up, especially after her failed attempts to try and rouse you. Sure, she might have slapped your face a few times. Or, like. Pinched you real hard. Maybe even grabbed your nose and shook your head back and forth a little.

But when she gets the idea, she's fine with playing the waiting game.

When Makie awakes, she'll find her bed lined with unopened food, drinks in cups, all sorts of things being hoarded around her. Ready for her, when she wants some. Makie figures she would prepare Makie for her hunger that will inevitably come from so much sleep.]

[therewerefifty]

[So some things don't change. She knows someone's in her room when she finally drifts back to the land of the conscious. No hostility, and it takes a moment to remember where she is. So maybe...Misty? She can't think of any other person who might be in here with her.

She shifts slightly, opening her eyes a crack out of sheer curiosity. So tired. Lilly's face is blurry, and so... well. Perhaps she's still asleep. Her eyes drift shut again. She's perfectly fine with dreaming this. Her voice is a soft murmur.]

I've missed you.

[motheater]

[You know, normal people would do a tearful, kind, sweet gesture. Say something beautiful, maybe hold hands or brush the awakened person's hair from their forehead. Maybe say something truly inspiring and award-winning.

Lilly, she just reaches over and gives Makie's cheek fat a little squeeze and jiggle.]

Stop sleep.

[therewerefifty]

[You mean you try, young lady. She's not so tired she won't instinctively catch that abusive little hand in her own, blinking owlishly. It's a gentle intercept, but nevertheless.

Huh. That really is kind of a solid little wrist.]

Lilly...?

You're really here.