driftfleet | (no subject)

GOOD DAY;

[he's taking a break from the medieval festivities to mess around in the bridge... under the various control panels, wrenching and drilling and screw-drivering things, pulling out circuit boards, occasionally welding something together. after a few hours of this, the screen he's under lights up, with a bright, colorful display! it's accompanied by cheery, 8-bit music. it looks like he's managed to start up some kind of... game.

there's a snake, and cute little pixelated fruits, and bright colors, and... the music can be heard down the hall, for sure. what's going on in there?]

BAD DAY;

[well, it was only a matter of time before his nightmares started catching up with him.

it's the dead of night. lights out. his sleep has been like the grave for the last few hours... until now, as he's started moving. restless. turning over. muttering very quiet nonsense under his breath.

--until he suddenly twitches awake. shoots bolt upright, panting, clawing at his shoulders as if to get something off of them. the darkness hits him a second later. it's just--his room, he's just in one of those cots, this is the ship, this isn't--

he glances over, holding his breath. was he loud? did anyone notice? maybe they're all asleep, and he can just...

he slips out of bed, almost silent, leaves the bunk room. he's not wearing anything more than sleeping pants, but he doesn't care--he just needs to move for a little bit. get his nerves to even out. let the dreaming fade from his mind.]

[ riku's not hard to spot.

he's sitting in the pilot's seat, turned halfway away from the door. with his feet on the chair and curled up close with a cup of tea, it looks like his night hasn't been all that good either. it's not a secret to him that robin has nightmares--he feels him walking around when he's up, too. it's not usual they cross paths, though.

when he starts, he almost spills tea on himself, peering up at robin. funny, he'd been so lost in thought he hadn't even...

he shifts his gaze back downward. ]

Couldn't sleep?

Ah...

[he stops in the doorway, pressing the bony part of his wrist into his temple. he was so distracted that he... didn't even see that Riku was in here, didn't "look" ahead of time. it's no surprise to him that Riku has bad dreams either, but he usually tries to give him a wide berth when they're both up at the same time.

he'll pick at him for lots of things, but nightmares... it seems an unspoken courtesy to not dig too deep. he'd be a hypocrite if he expected anything from it.]

Yeah, I... Think the planet's got me a little rattled.

[he still looks anxious, at the corners of his eyes. his body language is... tense, which is usual for him. his gaze goes distractedly out the window... until he decides to walk in, further, take a seat in the captain's chair.

it's where he usually sits. just, you know, typically with more clothes on.]

Figures, the one night I get to sleep at a normal, human hour...

[ riku closes his eyes, not saying a thing at first.

there's something like static electricity in the air, he can taste it on his tongue and it makes him likely to sneeze. nervousness, anxiety... the darkness is good for pinpointing those 'negative' emotions. when he actually looks to robin, he can tell how tense he is. ]

Need a shoulder?

[ it's a quiet, earnest offer; as if to clarify why he doesn't need one, he speaks again ]

Nothing new here. I have the same nightmare every night, so talking about it doesn't help. Is this planet like yours?

Hm?

[he looks over at him. ...rather, he twists and slumps down until he's laying across the chair, feet up on a nearby dash readout, head tipped back over an arm so that he can look at Riku upside-down. ridiculous? yes. does the moving calm him down? some.

same nightmare every night...? he doesn't quite believe it, with an explanation so ready, but he won't touch it for now. Riku's being nice to him, which means he needs to work on looking less... weird and panicked.]

...Kind of, yeah. Reminds me of the little town I grew up in, actually.

[that part is true, at least. and it's bothered him. but it's a different metaphorical can of worms. --ah, he kicks one of his feet a little as something occurs to him.]

Hey, can I tell you something cool? A story, kind of.

[ huh?

riku looks a bit confused--how do nightmares lead to talking about something cool? but he refrains asking, because he's sure there's a reason to robin's madness. ]

Sure.

Okay. Well...

[he remains where he is, stretched out. having to put his thoughts into coherent sentences is good, grounding. he eases up as he goes.]

This all happened before I was even born, but... According to the myths, my world was created by the Gods, who also created all of the plants, animals, and humans. The Gods are infinite and ineffable--literally impossible for humans to understand, so... To bridge the gap between themselves and humans, they picked nine special people to become avatars and speak on their behalf. Each one of those nine was transformed and opened up to the universe, and given dominion over an aspect of human existence.

[he counts them off on his fingers.]

There was one for knowledge, invention, creativity, perception, courage, suffering, comfort, life and death, and the human soul. They became known as the Nine Kings, because each ruled their subjects and kept "children", people who came to them whom they deemed worthy of their gifts and blessings.

[ riku nods his head lightly as he goes along, taking sips of his tea. ]

That is pretty cool. [ the religions kept on destiny islands were much more... restrictive. ] Were you one of the children?

[...wow, way to skip ahead in the story, Riku. he looks surprised, for a moment, before deciding to continue.]

Not quite. I... [man, now his groove is thrown off. he thinks for a moment, ruffling a hand through his hair. while still upside-down.] Well, there was a big war where all of them fought each other. Eventually, humans rose up and killed them to stop the fighting. But...

[a vague... spinning gesture.] They reincarnated into new bodies. That's what I am. One of them born anew.

[ when he looks surprised, riku just raises his brows.

robin, come on. have you not noticed how perceptive he is? but when he keeps going, his expression evens out.

and then, he just looks baffled. ]

Wait--what?

... Just what I said. Surprise.

[he waves his hands a little. jazz hands. surpriiise.]

So you're the reincarnation of one of the children?

The Kings.

[he... is a little nervous to talk about it, but it's nothing compared to his anxiety earlier. if anything, he's very calm about it compared to how it usually makes him feel.]

I'm one of the Nine Kings, straight connection to the Gods, dominion over a part of humanity, the whole deal.

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