You can check out anytime you'd like.. [Hotel Corona Mingle]

[thespaceopera]

Who: The Fleet!
Broadcast: If you want
Action: Hotel Corona or Planet Ikke
When: December 7th onward



[After the mystery and isolation of their last destination, the Marsiva seems determined to head to brighter, busier territory. After a long journey through remote, nebula-painted space, speeding along at a brisk pace for the Host ship, the Marsiva brings her Fleet to a sudden and prominent point of traffic.

It seems that the Fleet has happened upon some sort of vacation destination! Maybe Atroma thinks that the passengers deserve some rest and relaxation... or just wants to distract them with something huge and shiny.

Welcome to Hotel Corona! Feel free to enjoy yourselves and enjoy the sites! If a hotel resort isn't your thing, you can head on over to the nearby planet and explore it's icy wonders.

In order words: it's a mingle!! Everyone get in! ]

[>> Plot Post]

Comments

[notzubats]

Yeah. Just a little!

[He appreciates the help, lifting the head back on the body and listening to those instructions]

Really? That's a cute story. [It reminds him of them making faces in the sand out of pebbles, shells and seaweed back home] I dunno if I got any spare clothes, I kinda need them. But maybe there's pebbles and seaweed at the beach nearby!

[child_of_bhaal]

It's just a kiss on her hand, but it sends a heat through her. She can't stop smiling, but her cheeks are absolutely flushed.

"Yes, but you're awfully far away for such a thing."

[precedented]

[ He shakes his head. ]

It's fine. I wouldn't have mentioned it at all. Even now, it seems silly to speak of such things.

[dontthinkaboutelephants]

"We'll make short order of that," he says, standing up only to kneel down beside her. He's making a loon of himself in a restaurant, but he doesn't care. "Are you sure that kiss is still okay?" he asks, his brown eyes warm with amusement.

[exothermia]

[Erik shakes his head briefly, looking down at the table rather than at Charles's face.]

I don't regret you.

[exothermia]

[He watches her go, long enough to make sure she doesn't walk straight into another door. Then, he shuts the door, to stew over what just happened.]

[axiomed]

[ He could feel himself cracking at the seams. With a shuddering breath, he tries to rein himself in because this wasn't the point, he didn't share this so he could get that answer, so he could put his fears to rest.

But his voice cracks. ]

You can be angry and leave it at that.

[exothermia]

[Things rarely go as planned between them. Erik is in dangerous waters already, far beyond the small steps he had been taking. Charles has pushed him there just as surely as he's pushed Erik at other times, even if this was for the purpose of revealing his wrongdoings. He grimaces at the thought.

He could turn around and leave right now. It wouldn't even be to prove Charles right, dash him to pieces right when it would hurt most. It would be to spare himself further frustration. Part of him wants to, smarting and bitterly unsurprised that this has happened.

But.

Erik looks back up, expression stony and thoughts stormy.]

I am angry. Make no mistake. But if you think that's the end of this story, then you're wrong.

[axiomed]

[ With a shaky exhale, he closes his eyes and nods. ]

I was wrong about a lot of things.

[exothermia]

[Erik knows there's a lot of second-guessing in his future. What steps he had taken feel shakier now, as though he hadn't realised he was walking on ice until he finally looked down. And yet, he thinks with bleak humour, it's nothing different from what he already expected. He had expected Charles to refuse him when he said he wanted to come home.

Eyeing him, Erik turns some of his bitterness aside and holds on to the fact that these things are in retrospect. Charles had held his heart out, knowing full well that Erik could plunge a dagger into it and be justified in the act. There's a familiar kind of symmetry in that.

He moves closer and wraps his arms around Charles's shoulders. It's a bit stiff, restrained as it is by the barrage of feelings they've been hit with.]

And now you've been told as much.

[axiomed]

[ The silence that descends is neither awkward or comforting. Quietly, he asks. ]

Will you still come home?

[exothermia]

Yes.

[It had never been in question for him. Had this been a revelation that Charles truly hated him, then - yes. He would not have returned. But that isn't what this was. What this was was a mess, just one that will take some untangling.]

[axiomed]

[ He smiles, teary-eyed as he places his hand on top of Erik's. ]

Then I'm satisfied.

[exothermia]

[He lets out a breath, resting his head against Charles's.]

[axiomed]

[ He leans back against him, just taking in the moment. ]

a) Casino

[stretchy_girl]

[Why go to the bother of earning credits when it's much easier to steal them? That philosophy is what's brought Gemini to the casino looking for an easy mark with lots of cash. It doesn't take long for her to spot Arthur and shortly afterwards she saunters over, hips swinging, wearing a form that should make his pulse beat a little faster and make her task a little easier.]

Hi, mind if I join you?

[imfine1111one]

Allen.

You have a giant scar on your face.

[C'MON BUDDY]

[passingthrough]

Your feelings aren't silly. Denying them is just going to lead to beating up musical instruments and such.

[passingthrough]

Oh... Everything work out okay? [Because the only thing she really knows about what went down with the dragon is that Wanda died and that was, you know, big.]

[passingthrough]

Tradition is nice for teams too when you get there. [Thinking back to some of the nicer times back home. There were never enough of them.]

[passingthrough]

It's hard to keep a history running with people falling in and out of the place. Probably by design.

[save_the_souls]

[He frowns. Did she really not know?]

...A friend died and I was laid up in the clinic for a month along with several others. But sure, everything worked out okay.

[save_the_souls]

-!

H-Hey! That was from before I became an Exorcist! It doesn't count!

[ITS THE MARK OF MY TRAGIC BACKSTORY OKAY GOD]

[passingthrough]

Allen... [She steps out of line, not worried about transferring money as much as the people behind her want to.] I'm sorry. I didn't realize. I was helping a friend through something for awhile. I wasn't really on the network like I usually am.

[She's surprised how few of the people she does speak to regularly ever mentioned it with results like that. She definitely feels like she should have been there to help. But she was only the most vaguely aware of it until she spoke to Wanda and then only really knew how it impacted her and Pietro. She's also known dragons before in the prison so the term isn't something she instantly associates with trouble.]

[save_the_souls]

Please, save it. [He moves to push a lock of his hair behind his ear.] I'm not looking for an apology or a fight. I'm sure you were busy. It's not like any of the other superheroes showed up to help either.

[The truth was, it wasn't something he held personally against Kitty. Not really. Just...all of those superhero types, really. They made big promises, they made big speeches- but they never delivered. They were too caught up in their own problems to actually care about others. He crosses his arms and gives a shrug.]

But...whatever. I'm not a kid anymore. I've learned the hard way long before I met you not to rely on superheroes. At least you've never made some big speech or put on airs.