driftfleet | Chapter Twelve [Video]

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Chapter Twelve [Video]

Who: Richard Castle and you
Broadcast: Fleetwide
Action: Windrose, if desired
When: February 11th

[When Castle flicks on the video, he's projecting a veneer of calm... very badly, because one can hear an edge of panic in his voice.]

Ha, ha, ha! I don't mean to alarm anybody, but I bought myself one of those spiffy augment upgrades. I picked fire, because who doesn't want to be red hot, am I right? But, enhh... [He holds up his left palm, which has a small but persistent flame on the center.] I can't seem to turn it off. Does anybody here have experience with fire powers? And should it really be this powerful when I've only bought the first level...?

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Thankfully. It'd be a disaster if this ship was made of, like, marshmallows or something.

...

[There's a very obvious pause there as he tries to think of what marshmallows could be.

Then he laughs and nods.]

Yeeeeesssss, it certainly would be.

[Said in the "if I knew what that was" tone.]

Is it difficult to walk with the fire in your hand?

Marshmallows are a fluffy, sugary candy. They taste good toasted, but not so much if your ship is made of them.

[Castle paused and looked at his still-flaming hand.]

It's WEIRD more than anything. I feel like it should hurt, but it doesn't.

[Ah, more sugar. The future sure likes sugar a lot.]

That sounds like a very poor material to make a ship from. It would likely melt, yes?

[Also, now he needs to try this marshmallow thing.]

But are powers like these strange in your homeland? I would think if you chose it, you might be at least passably familiar.

Yep... which is why they've never made a ship out of it. Thankfully. ... I hope Atroma's not getting ideas, though.

[He nodded.]

I mean, people in fiction have powers like this, so I figured I'd be okay. I mostly wanted to be able to fight in case there's another attack...

Perhaps it wouldn't be so bad if the ship didn't have to fly in space though?

[Maybe in water. Or that "hot chocolate" stuff he hears about sometimes.]

And was your ship heavily damaged in the recent battle? Ours managed to pull through, but we still needed repairs.

Like a marshmallow bouncy castle... I could get behind that. Just toast it and eat it when you're done with it.

We did get boarded by the raiders, but we got off light compared to some of the others. Still... I felt more than a little useless having to hide while everyone else was fighting.

Not everyone should have to fight. [His smile grows a bit sad, remembering Takeshi and further back Tetsu.]

Although your desire is admirable. Perhaps you ought to find a teacher before conjuring another flame.

I've had a few offers, thankfully. But I'll need to think about whether or not fighting really IS for me. I guess there's no shame in surviving to clean things up afterward.

There's certainly no shame in being peaceful.

[He wishes he could be that way, but his hands are already too stained.]

If the world had more survivors than fighters, maybe we wouldn't have been in this mess to begin with.

[Castle smiles slightly at that.]

It's just a weird feeling for me, because most people in my world AREN'T fighters. We do have some, but the majority of us are just... ordinary people, so I don't feel quite as out of place as I do here.

It does seem as if a large percentage of people here have some battle training, doesn't it? Most of the people in my world are just normal people, too. Townspeople, shopkeepers, farmers - those sorts of things. Actual samurai with a master are rare now, while ronin with little formal training are becoming quite an eyesore. They usually get drunk and cause trouble.

[He sighs.]

But you needn't change who you are in order to fight, you know. I saw how you were with those children. I think you have a different light within you - a much more important one.

Samurai, huh? [Castle's interest sounds piqued by that.] It's a shame that some of them ended up being drunk troublemakers. But I suppose without a master to keep someone on the straight and narrow... it's easy to get restless and look for SOMETHING to do.

[Castle smiled quietly.]

I have a daughter of my own, so taking care of other people... kids especially... just comes naturally to me. And it's something I like doing. Since I'm a writer, I'm an entertainer of sorts, too, and people need entertainment and care in their lives.

Yes, without a master, most samurai begin to flounder. Not all who were born to this class are deserving of it.

[He says thinking of some of the rougher ronin who have come to the city to join the Joui. But he manages to keep his expression light as he shakes his head.]

Thankfully, I had friends and found a patron after leaving Edo. It gives us all a good sense of purpose.

[But a writer! Wow!]

What do you write? Do you make plays?

Purpose is a great thing to have... and friends. My life would've been a lot more boring if I hadn't met my current group of friends... I'd be without my fiance, for one.

I write mystery novels! Adventure, crime, passion and intrigue!

A fiance? [awww cute! ...What is a fiance] I'm unfamiliar with the term, I'm afraid. But it sounds as if they are important? Do they help you write your mystery books?

Ah! It means that she and I have made a commitment to marry each other. We were starting to plan our wedding before I got unceremoniously kidnapped to the Drift Fleet. And you could say she helps me write... she inspires me.

...

[Wait.

What?]

You plan the wedding? What about your parents? Are they not involved in giving their daughter away?

[His weren't, but his were dead sooooo.]

Well, we're both a bit old for that sort of thing. Plus her mother's dead and I've never known my father, so... [Castle DID know his father, his dad just wasn't in his life, but that was a complicated answer.]

Foreign culture is so weird.

[He says, laughing and not really realizing that he's being hella rude. Sorry, bro.]

How do marriages work in your country? Because this does not sound like how it works in mine.

[Castle, luckily, takes it in stride.]

Well, there are a lot of variables depending on the couple's individual preferences. Some people do religious ceremonies, some have huge guest lists, some like to keep it small and intimate. I'd love to get married in space, but Kate's not big on that idea.

[He gestures to the world around them.]

Should she ever show up here, [Kate - he'll have to remember that name] I suppose you will get your wish though.

I'm not gonna lie, I wouldn't mind that at all. I mean, I don't want her to get trapped here, and I've been here a year and a half without anybody from my world showing up, so I'm not holding out hope that she'll arrive. But it'd be pretty great, and I think I could talk her into going through with it.

[Again...another person saying they've been here over a year. Okita's smile falters as the thought of being trapped here until he dies, leaving his friends to fight alone, forever wondering where he went, floats through his mind. Then he forces the expression back into place.]

If she does, I'm sure you could convince her. You are a writer after all. Words are your craft, aren't they?

[Castle notices that faltering expression, but he knows better by now than to ask when the reason isn't volunteered. He has learned SOMETHING over the years.]

I am told I have a way with them, yes. And anyway, it's not like we have much of a choice, right? Even when we visit waystations and planets, we're nowhere near Earth.

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