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

[passingthrough]

Well...people are silly. I assume you spend time in funny hats when I'm not looking.

[precedented]

[ He blinks. ]

Why hats?

[passingthrough]

First random thing that popped into my head. There was a theme. Silliness. You know, things have really getting upside down if I'm the one confusing you. That's not how our thing works.

[precedented]

[ He laughs softly. ]

That much is true. Human nature is fairly balanced in its inscrutableness. Still. . . . Still.

[ He pauses, letting his words sink into the silence. ]

My hope is different from others. If I don't have it, everything I sacrificed for this becomes meaningless. So I must smile and go on.

[passingthrough]

How's that working out for you? [She doesn't mean to be cruel but obviously something is a little off.]

[precedented]

As well as anything does. It is my creed, not always the truth.

[passingthrough]

So what can I do to help?

[precedented]

It's not something that can be helped.

[ It sounds snappish, unlike Leto at all, who has always had a tight grasp on his temper, who never raises his tone. He picks up on it quickly enough, drawing in a sharp breath. ]

It's not something that can be fixed. Or dealt with. I knew he would leave. What else am I suppose to do but watch?

[passingthrough]

[Did you need to break another piano there, guy?]

Talk, drink, bury yourself in work, beat things up with smaller audiences? I've tried them all to varying degrees of success. Would not recommend the sleeping with anyone evil thing though. Tends to have long-lasting results.

[precedented]

Those work for people more human than me.

[ Quietly. ]

I don't need to eat. I can't sleep.

[passingthrough]

Spent most of my life not being human enough. Look at me now. Too human for you. [She smiles softly at him which resolves into a more neutral, tender look.] I know nothing really makes it better. It's just...managing the symptoms.

[precedented]

[ He nods. That's true, but Leto is frustrated with himself. Frustrated with loss. ]

I suppose I will just manage.

[passingthrough]

[Loss is a frustrating thing. And heartbreaking.]

Is it going to be weird if I hug you? I mean weirder than me asking instead of just doing it.

[precedented]

I'm very uncomfortable to hug.

[ But he answers with a flickering smile. ] But I would not mind.

[passingthrough]

Please, I was married to a giant metal man. You think I'm easily detoured when it comes to hugging? [She slips in closer, gentle but not timid when it comes to the wormskin.]

[precedented]

[ His arms slip around her as he buries his face in the crook of his neck. Leto can't cry much anymore. Water to the dead is a waste. But he shakes all the same. ]

[passingthrough]

[She wasn't sure how he'd feel about it once she hugged him, but it feels like something he needed after all, not just a whim of hers he indulged so she holds on, gently rubbing his back, content to stay like this as long as he might need it.]

[precedented]

[ He doesn't hold tightly, the fear of his own strength and abilities always holding him back at arm's length. ]

[passingthrough]

[Same sort of thing Piotr faced once he was trapped in his own mutation, unable to return to flesh and blood. She holds all the tighter in response.]

[precedented]

[ Finally, he lets go, parting awkwardly. ]

[passingthrough]

[She brings her hands down to hold his, giving them a squeeze. She feels like she should be guiding him through this somehow but it's not like there's any amount of anything that really makes it better. Contact helps her, but people need different things and Leto is something of an enigma among people.] Do you want to talk about...anything?

[precedented]

I . . . should not. It is an uncomfortable topic at best.

[passingthrough]

You don't have to protect me, but if you'd rather not I get that. Just don't hold back for my sake.

[precedented]

It's not protection as much as unsanctioned.

[ He shakes his head. ] And it matters little with Loki gone.

[passingthrough]

Unsanctioned? [She knows the word, but she's not sure she understands how it applies here.]