driftfleet | (no subject)

Entry tags:

(no subject)

Who: Heron crew + visitors
Broadcast: no
Action: the SS Heron
When: November

[Those spooky scary skeletons are back in the cupboard for another year, but the ship cruises onward. Whether the crew is taking a break from the planetary mystery and waystations, or just generally hanging around the ship mingling, the Heron is here for you.]

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[It doesn't take long, considering the Heron is docked at the station already. The waystation, as always, is mostly nondescript besides the rudimentary store and the artificial 'park'. It amounts to benches and a fake tree or two.

Erik is seated on one of the few benches, pen and notepad in his lap, but with his attention turned instead to the vista of stars and nearby nebula that arches overhead.]

[ His breath catches at the sight before it softens. He wheels his chair closer, keeping his eyes on the view. ]

My, that is a sight for sore eyes.

[Erik tilts his head back down to look at Charles, faintly amused.]

I find it looks better from here than through the ship windows.

You'd think they'd design ships with bigger windows, especially when traveling in space.

It's probably not practical, because of pressurisation of the hull and the need to keep it airtight.

Still. What's the point of being in space if you can't see it?

I wonder if perhaps they're simply so used to it, that they no longer see it that way.

[For the more advanced, it could be as boring as a car ride through featureless farmland.]

It's possible. Though I don't know how anyone can be bored of this.

I don't either.

[He can speak in the theoretical, but in practice he doesn't understand that point of view. He has days where it doesn't interest him, only it wasn't out of boredom of the sight itself.

Closing the notebook, he opens up a shopping bag that was sitting next to him, rummaging through the contents.]

There's never much to get on these waystations, but I bought some food bars and spare clothing.

I went shopping with Wrath earlier. For her party.

[ He straightens his blanket. He's feeling better after his discussion with Raven and his admission with Hank. I don't want that anymore. I don't want to settle for enough. ]

It seems quieter these days. Barring that unfortunate incident with powers going haywire.

Party...?

[He knows about at least one party that's happened recently, but there could have been ten of them that passed him by. Unwrapping a bar, he considers what Charles said.]

Other than that message... [And the accident he had in the ship itself.] It wasn't very eventful. I didn't know you'd been caught up in that as well.

My powers were being passed around it seems.

[ If he was more shallow, he'd probably feel vindicated. But Charles isn't that kind of person.

Charles takes the bar thoughtfully. ]

But I wouldn't say I was caught up in it much.

Mm. Mine only went to one person. It was annoying, more than anything else.

[Old hat, almost. The gaining of Wrath's perceptions had been disorienting, but shortlived.]

Mine went to two people. They took it . . . as well as anyone having my powers would.

[He only nods. He has had Charles's powers before; it's a lot to grasp, easy to be overwhelmed with.]

I don't think the recipient of mine had a particularly easy time either. I've never considered what it must feel like to someone unfamiliar with it.

Overwhelming, I imagine.

[ It always is. He takes a bite of his bar. ] Among other things.

Well. It was only temporary.

Everything here is, though. Everything is temporary.

[Erik catches his eye for a moment.]

Yes. Everything is temporary. It's the moment that has meaning.

[ He purses his lips. Charles was deliberately playing devil's advocate here. ]

If it's remembered. This place is like . . . well, these places sometimes can be like the tree in the forest. If it falls down and no one is there to see it, does it make a sound?

[It's a question he's pondered himself, in the aftermath of... everything. Erik hadn't expected Charles to raise it, so it takes him a little while to reply. He has a bite of his own food bar.]

It may not make a sound, but it leaves a mark. The tree still fell; the tree is still there. If you live each moment thinking, "I won't remember this," then soon enough you'll stop bothering to try anything.

[It would be easy, he knows.]