ship mingle: february is for starstruckers.

[mucked]

Who: Crew of the Starstruck
Broadcast: N/A
Action: Y, aboard the ship
When: All month

[ welcome to february. y'all know the drill. ]

Comments

[mucked]

Something like that -- goodness, it must feel like a burden. At times.

[ she says it expecting a protest. a deflection. ]

[shamisens]

[ That's a strange thing to say and Kubo's eyebrows cross together. ]

No. Why would it be?

[mucked]

It verges on a legacy, does it not? [ a beat. ] Unless you'd argue otherwise.

[ she almost wants him to. ]

[shamisens]

[ His pause is quiet and measured, as he works it out in his mind. ]

My mother's — my family's legacy isn't about the magic. Or the power. My magic is just part of my nature.

[mucked]

-- What is its legacy, then?

[shamisens]

[ Kubo squirms. He doesn't want to outrightly lie but he doesn't want to touch on that uncomfortable bit of family history. ]

I couldn't say. They weren't like . . . normal people. They lived in the Heavens. Like Gods.

[mucked]

Like Gods, but not actually Gods?

[shamisens]

I . . . would say they're close enough.

[mucked]

Is that so? [ ... ] What keeps you from calling them what they may as well be?

[shamisens]

Because they died.

[ His response is curt and without inflection. ]

[mucked]

And conventional myth tells us that Gods don't die, I suppose. [ despite the staid tone, she adds: ] I'm sorry, Kubo.

[shamisens]

Are you sorry you asked or sorry it happened?

[mucked]

The latter, of course. [ ... ] We should never feel sorry for the questions we ask.

[shamisens]

[ Kubo is less sure of that. His questions led him to good and bad places but he nods. ]

Why not?

[mucked]

Because I believe curiousity ought to be a virtue, Kubo. It is, at least, far more helpful than its opposite.

[shamisens]

What's the opposite?

[mucked]

Willful ignorance -- which isn't always to one's detriment, but often poisons many a well.

[shamisens]

I'm not so sure? I think it depends on the question.

[ He hesitates before pushing on. ]

I mean . . . I know I lost my eye, but I don't need to know the details about how I lost my eye.

[mucked]

And perhaps you don't. You'll recall I merely said that curiousity has the capacity to be more helpful -- I wasn't speaking in absolutes. Every rule has its exceptions.

[shamisens]

Has it helped you a lot then?

[ Kubo can count on his fingers the things he's been curious about. The environment he lives in, for example. But he's never had a burning desire to get answers. No one has ever lied to him until recently. ]

[mucked]

I'd go as far as saying it's done as good as save my hide. On multiple occasions.

[ -- and curiousity is nearly in her job description, and so she's bound to be biased. ]

[shamisens]

I don't know if it's done me any favors.

[ Kubo is mature enough to recognize it's not that simple, though. It's not a sweeping generalization. ]

[mucked]

Not yet, perhaps. [ ... ] But I promise you'll never be punished aboard this ship for something as natural as curiousity -- not by me, at any rate.

[shamisens]

[ Kubo is at a loss before he bows politely. ]

Thank you.