driftfleet | Party, it's a party

A) Host

[ Kai is trying to be a good host, without any real experience in the matter. He’ll at least take the responsibility for making sure that people who want a drink can have one, and bringing them one if they need a refill. ]

Want to place any bets on where we’re going next?

[ It could be fun, depending on where. And it’ll definitely be fun to speculate. ]

B) Breath

[ He does need to take a break at some point from the presence of people, from having them around. He’ll get back to it, but for now, Kai’s going to focus on not being social and around people.

He pauses outside his room, feeling a little guilty about just ducking in to hide. ]

C) Flirtation

[ There’s a note on the fridge door that says ‘Kai Gracen is looking for his one true love’ which is ridiculous that Kai can only roll his eyes as he peels it off. ]

When I find which of my shipmates did that I’m going to kill them.

I’d just rather keep it all in the realm of good fun.

[ Something everyone involved can walk away from without regrets when it’s over. ]

[McCoy nods in gratitude when Kai brings him a refill on his drink, though he's gonna have to start nursing this one, just so he's not roaring drunk by the end of this thing. Pleasantly buzzed is fine. Probably not best to get beyond that, being captain of this ship and all.]

Volcano planet. Death and destruction. Lava everywhere. We're all as good as dead.

[He might not be kidding.]

[ No one really needs to do anything as captain, but Kai's not going to spoil that illusion. ]

So it'll be sort of like a beach vacation.

[ He definitely is kidding. ]

If it's a volcano planet, may I recommend staying on the ship? If it survives the lava.

[It's the principle of the thing. It's also in his nature to take things too seriously.]

I'm sure we'll have no choice in the matter. It'll be great. We'll have an even bigger party afterward.

[If they survive it, of course.]

Maybe we can convince some other ship to throw that party, since unless Volcano Planet has whiskey, we'll be all out.

And if we're not, then I think after surviving something like that we deserve to keep whatever we have left.

Edited 2017-04-02 17:09 (UTC)

Yeah, at that point, I'm not donating my stash. I'll need it.

I'm going to vote for an alcohol planet. Surely there are places with oceans made up of whiskey.

[ If not, let a man dream. ]

There's something I can get behind. Then again, I'd probably end up treating half the fleet for alcohol poisoning.

They drink more than they can handle, then they're idiots for it. Doesn't sound like your problem.

I'm still a doctor, even if my patients are stupid.

Depends on if they're going to be harmed or just feel miserable for a while, I suppose.

If they're stupid enough to bring it on themselves, they're fine enough to feel miserable.

Sounds good to me.

I don't want you running yourself ragged trying to look after other people.

It's my job, Kai. Kinda in my blood. I'll try not to, but I get pretty single-minded about it. [As you probably well know.]

And my job was to hunt ainmí dubh, still had to rest after one ripped me up.

[ Not that he was always good at that, but McCoy didn't need to know that. ]

[A pause] I'm not sure I want to know but... ainmí dubh?

Black dogs. Big ugly creatures made out of elfin blood magic.

[ Not the worst thing he's bounty hunted, at least. ]

Black dog, huh? There's stories in some old earth cultures about black dogs as bad omens.

They're hunting dogs for the unsidhe, except that the unsidhe tend to be careless with their toys.

[ Kai needs a drink after saying that, and a deep one. ]

I'd ask about that, but it looks like you'd rather I didn't.

[ Kai snorts, but it's not like McCoy is wrong. ]

Point is, there are enough of them running around that it's pretty common to have a bounty posted on them.

Job never ends, right?

Keeps me in food and housing, at least.

[ Catelyn is no stranger to socializing, having been brought up to do her fair share, and being Lady of an important House, well, it just came with the territory. It is and is not familiar ground, but she is making her best effort. She toys with the drink she has barely tasted, turning it in her hands before she speaks. ]

Do we ever...return to places we've been? Might we...might any of us return home?

[ Kai is trying harder with his crewmates than the rest, because some people need other people and because they have to put up with each other regardless. ]

I went back home, recently. Or I thought I did, although to all reports my body stayed here.

[ Kai lifts his hand to touch his neck, where might be visible, now that he's drawn attention to it, a mark. ]

It's confusing, but I think we can, yes.

[ Such a thought is strange indeed to her, yet she feels that it is possible for the gods, or this Atroma...whatever it or they may be. If they could return her life to her, and to Robb, why should they have what may be considered to be normal limits placed on them?

By rights, I should not be alive. And if returning home meant dying again...I am not so eager. Yet I have five children. Two are here with me. But of the ones who remain behind...only one lives. If my son and daughter were to return from here, he would die, and she would live, though a prisoner. If I could change that fate, gladly would I return.

It sounds like being here is probably safer than wherever it is you come from.

[ He's just saying... ]

[ Just think if he got more than the Cliff's Notes version. ]

So far it is. I've only had to fight for my life once.

[ She could be joking...is she? ]

[ He would guess no. ]

The fewer times that's necessary, the better.

I think I am a little better prepared for such things here, though it is hard to understand how that can be so.

[ The augment is so puzzling to someone used to candlelight and superstitions. ]

It’s probably all the more important to train then, so you don’t second-guess your own reactions. That’s my working theory, at least.

I saw my brother and my father's ward practice every day as a child. I have watched my sons draw the bow until their arms shake, and yet one more.

[also Arya, to be fair. but most women are not taught to hold a weapon, though they may die just as easily when faced with one. It has never occured to her to question such things. Until now. ]

Such was not seemly for a girl to learn, and yet...I know.

[ Her dogged determination to make use of this knowledge has made her stronger, quicker. The wolf has fangs, now. ]

Not seemly for a girl to learn?

[ Kai asks the question like he has no idea what she's referring to, mostly because he doesn't. ]

I'd like to see anyone tell Alexa that.

Edited 2017-04-18 01:09 (UTC)

[ She doesn't know who Alexa is, but the mental image she has is Arya, Brienne... ]

That is the general opinion, yes.

[ Her tone is careful, diplomatic. ]

My younger daughter is better with a bow than any of her brothers, or my brother, for that matter. Edmure is dismal with a bow. I know a knight who is the equal of any man, and she swore her loyalty to me. But they are quite the exception, and if all had gone to plan, Arya would likely be soon wed, with her own children to care for.

And she's supposed to give up on what she's good at and presumably enjoys just for being wed?

[ That's appalling. Kai isn't good with commitment, but at least he doesn't have to fear that coming out of it. ]

Children are -- generally -- precious to the elfin, but they're raised by the community and no one has to give up themselves to care for them.

[ She isn't trying to horrify him, but that is the world and the social structure she is used to and has done her best to adhere to. ]

Each child is the responsibility of his or her parents, and what they will become is generally set in motion at birth. I am my father's eldest child, but as a girl, I would not inherit Riverrun unless there happened to be no male heir. As I do have a brother, my duty was to wed where my father chose, for the betterment of our House and to strengthen our ties with other Houses. I was fortunate. He chose well for me. And my husband tried to do the same for our children.

That's barbaric.

[ Well and truly. ]

Did you have no say at all in the matter of who you wed and if?

[It is not something she gave much thought to changing. It is just The Way Things Are (tm). Yet she had been well aware that she was one of the fortunate few. She and Ned had truly been a good match, no matter how rocky the start of their relationship had been. ]

To be fair, neither did my husband. I was promised to his older brother, but when Brandon died....

[ strange how much that still hurts. It's a sharp pang rather than the missing-limb ache of Ned's loss, and the two pains barely compare. Yet she had loved Brandon as well as any girl her age might (12, she was 12). A small shake of her head and she continues. ]

Ned was raised to do his duty as well, and part of that meant becoming Lord of Winterfell and making me his lady wife. Another man might have tried to reject an ill-luck bride. But Ned is not like other men.

[ Still present tense, though she has wept over his bones. Still proud of her beloved. ]

So as far as I can see the fact that you were both forced into it makes it...well, at least there was that starting equality, but it doesn't really count for much.

And you want the same for your children?

My son chose a girl he fell in love with to marry, despite the fact that he had promised to marry another. And for that, we all died at his wedding.

I was considered a traitor for freeing a valuable hostage in exchange for my daughters' safe return, but it is often easy to justify one's own actions, correct?

It is not black and white, an obvious choice. I want my children to be happy yes, but I want to them to be alive more.

[ The part of them all dying at the wedding is probably metaphorical, or only partly literal, since she's here in front of him.. ]

I'm sorry, that's all terrible.

I can't say that it's a level of cruelty past what I'm familiar with, but it is past what anyone should have to deal with.

It is far from ideal, yet it is the world we lived in. Like all lives ours had ups and downs. Pray remember that we were fortunate enough to be born nobles. Peasants fared far worse, generally speaking.

Sounds like a shit deal for everyone if you'll pardon the language. I think I'll stick with my brand of humans if I leave this place.

[Good idea, Kai. It's nice to be moving away from that planet, if only because spending that much time underwater is such an anathema to land-dwellers and air-breathers that prolonged exposure was starting to give people nightmares and quasi-anxiety attacks.

Maybe that was just McCoy. At any rate, good to be back in space again and Lord knows he never thought he'd say that. Still, they did good work there.

Kai's taken over as host, so McCoy is mingling. Yes, mingling. Actually being social. Saying hello to whomever is there. Having conversations. Refilling glasses if Kai has his hands full.

Eventually, he sits, legs stretched out in front of him and feet crossed at the ankles and says to no one in particular:] Glad that's over.

[ She had taken a nearby seat, grateful for the chance to rest. She still does not know quite how to categorize her shipmates into the social framework she is used to, so the best analogy she can come up with is fellow fosterlings, after a fashion, each with their own training and roles. It's not perfect but it will do. ]

Hosting an event of any sort is stressful in some way.

[ She smiles briefly, but it doesn't quite reach her eyes. ]

Imagine having your king and all his court simply show up and stay, out of the clear blue sky.

Ah...but I suppose your people may not have a king.

[ What a strange thought. ]

[He raises a glass in acknowledgement, but then shakes his head.] No, no king, but I think I can handle your analogy. I've been to a few places with a sovereign rule.

[ She tilts her head, considering all he might have seen. Things beyond any imagining she could have dreamed. ]

So where you are from....who rules there? Is it very different from a king or queen?

[ The gods made kings and queens....and they broke them in turn. ]

There's no one person. We've a president and a council and a federation and... really, it's pretty complicated without an understanding of the UFP in general. [Really not trying to dismiss her questions, but trying to get a feel as to how much information she really wants.]

[ She is quiet for a long moment, considering the strange to her terminology. The augment may make sense of the unfamiliar words and provide the concept to her, but she still must adjust her frame of reference. ]

Is it the sort of system you would prefer, if you could choose? There is little choice where I am from. Your lot in life is good or bad largely due to what family you are born into. Peasant or noble. Slave or free. Circumstances can and do change, often in the blink of an eye, yet for most, one could predict what sort of life they would lead based only on a few questions.

Party, it's a party

Kai Gracen | Open

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A.

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Leonard McCoy | ota

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