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

[axiomed]

[ He finds himself missing Jean. His protege student. ]

As am I.

[dancingmd]

[She beams at him then takes his hand again, tugging him towards one of the other exhibits.]

Come on! There's so much to see!

[axiomed]

Go ahead. I'm coming.

[dancingmd]

[Permission granted, she runs up ahead to one of the telescopes and eagerly looks through the lens. After a few seconds, her expression falls. There's nothing to see but darkness!

Frowning, she takes a step back, examines the telescope, and soon sees the problem: it needs money. She huffs.]

They want money for everything!

[axiomed]

Ah, hold on.

[ He digs through his pockets before handing her some change. ]

[dancingmd]

[She takes the change with a polite "thank you," but she's still frowning.]

It's not right, you know. Making people pay for educational stuff. Or clothes. And do you know, they even charge money for food? What if people don't have enough money? How are they supposed to eat?

[axiomed]

[ It takes him a few seconds to parse that. ]

Every place is different. I imagine a moving hotel has to need money if they wish to go to other planets.

[dancingmd]

[Sorry Charles for the Federation child. Money is confusing.]

Why would they need money for that?

[axiomed]

Every culture is different. And they believe in using money to make the society work.

[dancingmd]

[Beverly considers this. She reads a lot about Starfleet and knows you're not supposed to judge other cultures. But she is, after all, still a child, and still has a child's black and white sense of the world.]

I still don't think it's fair.

[axiomed]

It might not fit our version of fairness, but it might work fairly in different societies. We can't always apply my own standards to everything. Keeping an open mind is part of Starfleet's creed, is it not?

[dancingmd]

[The downside of Charles knowing grown-up her: using her own self against her. Begrudgingly:]

Yes. [She flushes red.] Sometimes it's really, really hard though.

[axiomed]

[ He smiles. ]

It is. We say we want to, but we all have certain behaviours in us that we often forget about - that can be hurtful. But we're all learning and remembering that we always will is a good place to start.

[dancingmd]

You sound just like Nana. [Truly the highest praise she can give anyone.] She always says there's good in everyone, even Romulans and that we're more alike than we think.

[axiomed]

We always are.

[ Charles notices that easily. People all feel the same. ]

[dancingmd]

[She falls silent, studying the coin he gave her. It still doesn't sit right with her, but she can try to do better. After all, she's going to be in Starfleet so she's gotta get ready.

She puts the coin in the designated slot on the telescope, then tries looking through it again. This time, what she sees is breathtaking and she can't help but gasp.]

Mr. Charles! Come look!

[The telescope gets them up close and personal with the nebula they'd seen out the window earlier, in all its pinks and blues and purples.]

[axiomed]

Oh, that's beautiful.

[ His awe colours his voice. No matter what his negative feelings of the Fleet might be, Charles does wholeheartedly love the experience of traveling to different worlds. ]

[dancingmd]

[Maybe she can't read minds, but she can still feel that this is something important to him, so she silently takes hold of his hand again.]

[axiomed]

[ He smiles, squeezing her hand. ]

Go on. Take another look. I have more money if we need it.

[dancingmd]

[If there was any question as to how comfortable she feels around him, it's certainly answered now as she clambers over his legs - very carefully, of course, she doesn't want to do anything that might hurt him - to look through the telescope again. It's all so amazing, better than she ever imagined, spending almost all of her short life on only one planet. Of course, the most amazing of all is knowing that she'll get to see all sorts of places like this when she's grown up.

Alas, all too soon the lens falls dark again and she turns to give him a pleading look.]

[axiomed]

[ He chuckles, feeding the meter. ]

Go on, love. Take as many looks as you need.

[dancingmd]

Thank you!

[Poor Charles will end up going through a few coins, both for this telescope and others. Her curiosity seems to be insatiable as she darts excitedly from exhibit to exhibit, always turning around to make sure he's coming, to make sure he sees too. She asks plenty of questions, while sharing what she knows too. Inevitably, though, she'll tire herself out and she starts to slow down and at one point as they stand next to a salt statue, she lets out a big yawn.]

[axiomed]

[ Charles, to his credit, never seems to slow down or be bothered. In fact, he seems to bask in it, the quiet fervent attention of a child. It's been a long time and his students are a lot older, a lot more grounded. ]

I think it's time you retired to your rooms. The exhibits will be here tomorrow if you want to come back.

[dancingmd]

I'm not... [She stifles another yawn, stubborn as always.] sleepy!

[Except you very much are, Beverly, and what's more, it's suddenly hitting her how very far away her room is and how long it'll take to get there.]

[axiomed]

You can climb onto the chair. There's plenty of space.

[ He highly doubts she'll make it to her room easily. ]