driftfleet | (no subject)

[Personnel office]

[Therapy is a fairly new career path, in Manolo's time. It most certainly hasn't caught on on his tiny backwater town, at any rate. It's not the job he would have picked for himself, but it's still exponentially better than trying not to get gored by a bull. He likes helping people, and he might as well do some good, while he's working on an escape route.

He can often be found in his office, door open, sitting on his chair with his feet resting on his desk. More often than not, he's playing something on his guitar. Sometimes just a random collection of notes that somehow work together; sometimes he plays something a little more recognisable.]

[Galley]

[He's not a good cook. Like, at all. But they haven't got one aboard, and food needs to be eaten somehow. He's rather dejectedly prodding what looks like a charred bowl of protein mush with a spoon. ]

...I'm pretty sure it's not supposed to look like this.

Edited 2015-03-11 21:25 (UTC)

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.]

What're you trying to make?

[ riku steps in from the doorway.

it's highly unlikely manolo has seen or heard riku around--he's certainly made himself scarce. but food is food, and everyone needs it, including him.

as far as first impressions go... maybe not the best, but nothing too bad. he hesitates before making his way over to the dispenser, to start on tea. ]

I'm Riku, I've got the security augment here. I guess you're new?

[ 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?

[with that little bit of guitar strumming, it doesn't take long for Robin to poke his head in--distracted from whatever less-important thing he was doing. he looks surprised.]

Ah--you know how to play that?

[galley]

[ if you haven't seen riku around the last few days, don't worry!

you aren't the only one. since they've arrived on the planet, riku has made it his job to be mostly unseen; he's stalked around and observed all there is to observe. he has to gauge any and every threat, and it's a good thing he's hyper-vigilant, or this would be really hard. but three days afterward, riku starts to show his face around the ship again, if only slightly. a flicker of him in the galley here, a moment in the armory there.

but it's finally a day of rest, and riku looks exhausted as he flips some crumbled-minced protein in a frying pan. finally, a stovetop--he's been dying for one.

mmm, beef protein. ]

[armory]

[ the best thing that comes out of wandering around the planet is that riku has finally found tools.

so you may be walking by the armory and find that the door is open, and riku's on the floor. and riku is whittling away at a small piece of wood. he's trying to still his shaky hands, and he's halfway through carving a little orb. it's like he's cutting the figure out of the wood itself. it's definitely not done, he's shaping the underside of it now, but he looks ultimately focused, even when it's put down and he glares at his shaking hand.

his tremor is gonna be the end of him. how is he going to make a clocktower with shakiness? ]

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?

[Manolo looks up from his guitar with a wide smile. ]

Longer than I can even remember, any more.

[He plays a small refrain. He never knows where the music comes from. It just does.]

There's nothing in any world more freeing than music.

It was supposed to be chicken. But I'm pretty sure this has never even seen an egg.

[He pushes the charred mess aside with a grimace, before the smile's back on, and turned in Riku's direction.]

Pleased to meet you. I'm Manolo, apparently I'm personnel? I just got here this week.

Man-oh-loh?

[ he repeats it quietly, carefully, because names can mean so much more than just, well. a name. he exhales, hoping he's got that right before he gestures to the protein dispenser. ]

This thing's tough to get used to. I've been here for months, so if you need help with it, you can ask.

That's right.

I appreciate that. I've never seen anything like it. Back home, we have ovens, nothing like this.

[ he gives a little laugh. ]

Yeah, ovens're easy.

I'm gonna make something. I'll make extra if you want.

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.

[...he just looks. so happy. to hear that.]

That's wonderful.

[he hadn't even meant to check this out for long, but now he's slinking into the room and having a seat on whatever piece of furniture isn't occupied.]

We don't get a lot of music out here, and it's kind of... boring, when we finally do. I miss having real instruments around...

[And this, this right here is what Manolo knows he was born to do. Make people happy with his music. It's his place in the universe, and it brings him great joy to see his music bring it to others.]

Thank you.

[He makes no comment on it, that's what the Fleet wants from him, right? Give the people on the ship a safe place to come to.]

You mean like that jingle? [He pulls a face. ] Not what I'd call music.

Gracias. Eventually, I'll figure it out, I'm sure.

[Or burn the ship down. One or the other.]

[ 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.

[ ah, what does that mean? ... he won't ask. he can figure it out later.

oh, uh, right. he's got... to talk. about things. normal people talk about things! ]

Did you meet everyone else already?

I met Robin, and you. That's it, for now.

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.]

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Open as an open thing

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galley;

bad day;

Personnel

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