(no subject)

[theboogieman]

Who: The fine crew of the SS Red Fish!
Broadcast: Probably not so much...
Action: You betcha.
When: Barely forward-dated to Halloween!

---

[welcome to the Red Fish, the ship that always looks ready for Halloween anyway.

while today is a popular Earth holiday, it's also Zhas' birthday, and he has probably mentioned it to everyone on board in an unsubtle way over the last few weeks. there are a hilarious number of jack-o-lanterns around the ship, showing off skull-face carvings of... varying quality. thanks, Syeira!

what's in store on this spooky night? HILARITY, probably.]

Comments

[theboogieman]

[ OPTION A → before anything really starts happening, Zhas can be found milling about the ship without any of his signature makeup on. he's wearing his normal-people clothes, too, and seems to be moving around with less tense, looming, antisocial gloom than usual.

could Zhas be... in a good mood? if you'd have to see it to believe it, well, now's your chance, because he's heading your way right now. crewmates are welcome to know it's his birthday today, because he's never been subtle about mentioning it.]

[ OPTION B → much later in the evening and several drinks later, Zhas' mood has elevated to "this is the best ship and I love everyone in this bar." sure, they're all just... hanging out in the kitchen, but Zhas has pulled everyone he's found in for a little impromptu mingling, and there is food (hey, dried pumpkin seeds!) and there is alcohol, and he's still totally down to talk to you. for once.

he's at his most sociable (at least compared to his usual, anyway) and just happy to have his one, traditional day off from being a scary vampire hunter. if you've ever wanted a good chat with him, get in on it now, because...]

[ OPTION C → ...eventually, there's probably too much drinking, and Zhas starts getting kind of incomprehensible. are you guys still hanging out in the kitchen? have you wandered off somewhere else? have you left the ship, only for Zhas to pop up and try to misguidedly talk to you again? YOU DECIDE.]

A;;

[recipio]

[ Carl's only been on the ship about a week, and he's done a pretty fantastic job of avoiding a good portion of the crew. It was really only going to be a matter of time before he met everyone, though he's still been trying to come to grips that this is reality. Sure, he's seen Zhas in passing, but they haven't really talked.

He's on his way to the kitchen from his room when he crosses paths with Zhas, and Carl looks at him a little curiously, because he looks kind of familiar?? But the face paint is gone, so he's not as easy to identify. ]

Uh..Hi? [ Smooth, Grimes. So convincing. ]

[theboogieman]

[and Zhas has definitely not gone out of his way to say hello before now. he's spotted him before, but mostly assumed that he was here to visit one of his more social crewmates, like Syeira or Asuka. this is the Red Fish, after all--not a place for kids.

...but this is exactly why today, he slows in passing him and looks over with a similar curiosity. a moment later he's stopped, tilting his head, saying nothing at first but clearly trying to piece something together in his head.

finally, he talks in that scary, gravelly voice of his:] Who're you.

A...

[mortalcoil]

[maybe Coil had been hoping that Zhas would have forgotten the date... because when he runs into him and spots a distinct lack of paint on his face, something about his expression sinks.

he doesn't have to worry about Zhas seeing his disappointment, though. he knows from experience that nothing can make a dent in that good mood.]

[theboogieman]

[HA HA... oh, Coil. prepare for a day.

Zhas walks right up to him, smacks him cheerily on the shoulder by way of manly greeting, and signs the equivalent to: 'why the long face?']

B

[child_of_bhaal]

[This is a perfect time to give him presents, right? Of course, it is! She's got a long parcel lightly wrapped in just a cloth. It's pretty obvious what it is. She's still not figured out the whole wrapping paper thing, but it's the thought that counts.]

Happy Birthday, Zhas!

[She's probably said it like six...teen times today, but what's one more!]

[theboogieman]

[it may be the seventeenth "happy birthday" he's heard from her today, but he's no less happy to hear it. he turns towards her and smiles--like, genuinely, and out of his own free will--but that's before he actually looks down to see what she's holding.

...it's confusing. he tilts his head, signing 'what?' far more casually than normal.]

b

[interstices]

[Drinking, drinking, till the ship is sinking. By this point in the night, Asuka's half-Angelic metabolism be damned, she's had maybe two too many. It's not enough to make her insensible, but it is enough to wipe most of the scowl off her face and incite her to less than stellar feats of daring.]

[Right now, for example, she's showcasing her incomparable reflexes by tossing handfuls of dried pumpkin seeds in the air and catching them.]

[Right now, for example, she's catching more with her Red Riding Hood basket than with her hands.]

Hey, Zhas-- [Nobody's watching her at this point, which is profoundly annoying. She wrinkles her nose as she picks up some of the stray seeds.] I didn't give you a present yet.

[theboogieman]

[since he only indulges like this once a year, he tends to go all-out--throwing things like "pacing" and "sensible decisions" to the wind. he makes for a very easily-distracted drunk, turning in his chair to see why Asuka is talking to him, only to lose focus on the seeds that she's picking up.]

...Huh? [the rest of her words filter through to him several seconds too soon.] Oh, no? You don't have to...

[seeing Asuka here, in a costume and not scowling, is enough to make him smile anyway.]

b!!

[dontthinkaboutelephants]

[Arthur didn't intend to get drunk. But he may be a little drunk.

Okay, a lot drunk.

He ambles over and plops down across from Zhas, setting his glass down on the table and peering at Zhas.]

Hey... Happy birthday.

[theboogieman]

[were he back home, today would be the one day a year that Zhas gives himself a day off. he says, "fuck the vampires, they can wait," and overlooks the monstrosities walking among common man in favor of having a few drinks and enjoying the fact that he's still alive and still mortal.

so... by that vein of thinking, it's not hard to overlook a petty grudge match. for tonight, at least. he raises his glass a little, looking almost human as he almost smiles.]

Thanks. ...S'nice of you to be here.

[mortalcoil]

[it happens every single Halloween... and while Coil may have only known Zhas for a few years out of his life, those years have packed more than enough punch to seem like eons. and he feels like he's lived through this particular tradition enough times to make his hair turn grey.

once a year, the world turns on its head. today is Zhas' birthday, and all the rules of Coil's reality run backwards until it's over.

this means that it is also a rare day in which Coil doesn't have the option of hiding in his room or disappearing into the shadows of the planet... because he has some babysitting to do.

tonight, Coil is out in the open, camped out in the corner of whatever room Zhas happens to be in. and while his partner may currently have a naked, human face, Coil seems to have taken up the slack--for once, Coil is the one with a skull painted on his face. and because of the paint, it's hard to tell what he thinks about this whole thing, but by the way he's mostly ignoring the cup of something inappropriately strong in his hand, he doesn't seem to be particularly thrilled.]

[recipio]

[ Remembering dates hasn't been much of a concern for two years, so it's still odd to be able to have a calendar or a clock to be able to keep time. His dad had always worn a watch, but the battery had long since died.

The past few days on the Red Fish have been a little more active than the first few days of Carl's arrival, so it's been a bit more difficult to go unnoticed. He'd come out of his room for food and something to drink, and was met with a kitchen full of people. Well, better late than never to get acquainted.. Although with so many unfamiliar people, there's still that notion of unease at the back of his head.

He sees Zhas without his skull makeup and Coil with, and it doesn't seem right, though he's only seen both of them in passing. Though he had met Zhas earlier. Captain one of three. Carl sidles over to Coil to at least introduce himself. ]

Hey, I'm Carl. I was just assigned here.

[mortalcoil]

[for very certain reasons, Coil has recently been making it a point to ignore newcomers to the ship. it might have something to do with getting in trouble for throwing someone out, but whatever. since then, visitors have just not been his problem.

and this is why he doesn't even bother glancing out of the corner of his one good eye until the boy states that he's more than just a visitor.

Coil doesn't say anything, but Carl at least has his attention now. it's hard to tell with all that paint if his expression can really be called surprised, but his eyebrows do raise.]

[interstices]

[This is so weird. Zhas is downright chill (downright drunk, honestly) and Coil's sitting in the corner sulking. Well, maybe that second part isn't too far off normal, except for the face paint. Why they've swapped for his birthday when they didn't, to her knowledge, do the same for Coil, she's not sure. Maybe it's because it's Halloween. Who knows?]

[Asuka hasn't been overly chatty, but that's nothing out of the ordinary. She hasn't been on her ship that much lately. She's not boiling over with rage toward Coil anymore, not since he sort of apologized, but she also hasn't really discussed anything substantial with him lately. So she sidles up to him on impulse, untouched drink in one hand, the basket that goes with her Red Riding Hood costume (still on) (red's her favorite color) in the other.]

You're not having fun.

[mortalcoil]

[the reasons behind to odd look he glances toward her with are twofold (or three, if you count the two seconds it takes to figure out why she's in a costume. it's easy to forget about the rest of this holiday while in space). firstly, he's a little caught off guard that she's approaching and talking to him of her own volition. and secondly, he's a little surprised at the suggestion of 'fun.' is that what he's supposed to be doing here?

'are you?' he signs, looking a little skeptical.]

[child_of_bhaal]

[Syeira plunks herself down beside him, a drink in her hand too. She's warm and pleasantly tipsy, in a very good mood. She likes birthdays so much.]

It's not as bad as you made it out to be.

[Hi, Coil c: ]

[mortalcoil]

['it's early,' he signs immediately, before he even turns to look at her. and his hands are heavy when he signs--both from the small amount of alcohol that he's choked down so far, and the weariness that comes from enduring too many years of this particular tradition. it has been quiet so far, but Coil still manages to look a little haunted by the whole thing.]

[theboogieman]

[heeeeeey, how's his best buddy?

on the one hand, Zhas hasn't done anything particularly damaging yet. on the other hand, the night is young by their standards--and while Coil may not be drinking a lot, Zhas certainly is.

he doesn't have a drink in his hand at the moment, but that's just so he can chatter-sign at Coil the moment he catches him: 'is there something going on with you and Asuka?']

[mortalcoil]

[he has only been drinking enough to dip into tipsiness, but he still does a doubletake like he hadn't been able to focus enough and catch those all those words. the open-faced staring that follows makes him look much more intoxicated than he is, really.

the sign he gives is one of those vague, abstract motions that basically amounts to 'what??']

[dontthinkaboutelephants]

a )

[Arthur is... drunk. Very drunk. It started with a couple glasses, and then he realized maybe he had more than that when he stood up.

He seems very happy at least, greeting anyone who approaches. But, at the moment, he's sitting at the table, stacking kitchen items on top of each other like a strange version of Jenga.]

Don't break my concentration, [he warns whoever's approaching, his eyes set on his pile as he tries to put a ladle at the tippy-top.]

b )

[After that, he's winding down to sleepy and drunk, and he tries to appear bright-eyed and sober while slumping over in his seat, his chin in his hand and elbow slipping on the table now and then. In his other hand, he has a pen, and he's doodling on his sketchpad, now and then drawing the people at the party (his drawing skills are remarkably still pretty good while drunk), the Penrose steps, and words, scribbled notes about dreams and imagery and metaphor.]

A!

[mortalcoil]

[Coil is not much of a drinker, and it only partially has to do with the fact that he is considered too young for it in most places in the world. but there is one day a year that he doesn't believe that he has much choice in the matter--and that day is today.

he'd stopped fighting the drinks that Zhas had pushed into his hand early on, because it was easier to just give up than suffer all the badgering. and the more that Coil "joins in" on the "fun" of Zhas' birthday, the happier his normally-skull-faced partner seems to get. so... his cup is currently half empty, and it's not his first one of the night.

by now, an expertly-stacked tower of kitchen supplies is actually pretty fascinating. and he's not thinking about how distracting he might be when he leans around to try and get Arthur's attention by signing at him.]

[dontthinkaboutelephants]

[Arthur's surprise is over-exaggerated by how drunk he is, and he drops the ladle. It crashes onto his pile, and some of the objects topple over. He looks to his pile and sighs, but it's not really a big deal in his really happy brain right now.

His eyes flicker over to Coil, and he smiles.] Sorry. What were you saying?

B

[child_of_bhaal]

She takes the seat across from him, folding her arms on the table, watching him sketch and try not fall face first into the page.

"Did you have fun?" She starts conversationally, with a tiny smile.

[dontthinkaboutelephants]

He looks up at her and practically lights up when he realizes it's her, grinning like a dope.

"Yes," he answers her. "Did you?"