everybody's starstruck in june.

[mucked]

Who: starstruck crew & visitors
Broadcast: n/a
Action: aboard the ship
When: june

[ another month; another mingle. but there are changes in the air! the starstruck has some fresh crew to boast of, as well as a spiffing new lounge. things have been difficult, lately -- the common area might make for a great place to decompress and socialize with your fellow starstruckers.

after all, it seems the captain's gone and requisitioned max's record player. for the first week in june, it'll be returned again and again to the new lounge. good luck hiding it from her, rockatanksy.

ready steady go! ]

Comments

[theroadwarrior]

... Sounds nice.

[He shrugs, sitting back finally.]

Don't see the harm in it. Enjoying something. Doin' something.

Better than staring at the walls.

[... So. What Max does, half the time. Also he totally is not taking your side here.]

[mucked]

[ it's gonna be like this, is it? ]

Perhaps he can paint your shuttle next.

[ gloves, off. ]

[theroadwarrior]

[Eyebrows raised. And curiosity gets the better of him as he frowns his disapproval.]

Huh.

You're worse than usual today.

[Threatening the shuttle, taking the record player, and being so very combative, even if it's in a relatively nice way.

He just wonders.]

[mucked]

Worse than usual.

[ oh, no. ]

What the devil does that mean?

[ perhaps she is a bit more testy, of late. new arrivals on the ship make her get a bit overly formal. peggy tries to put her best captain's foot forward, and likely overcorrects. or else maybe she's still reeling from their unintended hug a few days prior; the thought still makes her throat constrict. ]

[theroadwarrior]

Very... hmm.

[He holds up his fists, as if he's about to box; a little sign language for a description that he can't put into words.]

... Easier to piss off.

[He's hardly one to take back words, because he almost always means them.

He points at himself.]

You mad at me? Is this about the pins?

[mucked]

At you?

[ about the pins? heavens. she's floored -- just for a moment -- that max would still be worrying about it. peggy's upset about a lot of things just now. and some of it does revolve around max. but she's not...god, she nearly laughs. ]

Not at all. Not one bit. Max, you did nothing wrong.

[ she, however, has been up to all sorts of mischief. ]

[theroadwarrior]

... Wrong enough that you take my stuff.

[He says, motioning a lazy hand toward the record player.]

... A lot.

[mucked]

-- Would you have come to the lounge at all this week if I hadn't?

[ is she trying to say she...likes you? wants to spend time with you? is this a schoolyard playground? who knows. ]

[theroadwarrior]

... Hard to say.

I was too busy trying to figure out new places to hide the record player.

[mucked]

[ a beat, before she needles a little further. ]

None of them were terribly good hiding places.

[ they'd both been on this ship just about as long as each other, after all. they're the solid old veterans of the starstruck. arguably, they know the ship equally well. ]

[theroadwarrior]

[Har har, Peggy.]

What, now I gotta hide things on other ships?

[mucked]

Do you even go on other ships? Besides the First Breath?

[ -- don't think she doesn't pay attention to you. ]

[theroadwarrior]

Been to the Blue Fish.

... Once.

[He shrugs.

So. Yes. He's never even seen the inside of most ships.]

[mucked]

[ once. ]

Well, I'll know where to look next. Won't I?

[theroadwarrior]

[Scoff.]

Y'know, solitude isn't just a psychotic's weird problem to fix.

Sometimes, uh... people just enjoy it. Even the sane ones.

[It's not always a bad thing, Peggy. Even in excess, he's pretty sure.]

[mucked]

There is a difference between enjoying and wallowing.

[ and maybe she'd begun to feel herself wallow -- instead of simply fixing 'herself', it's easier to fix those around her. force them into her company, maybe, and thereby feel a little better about her own habits. ]

[theroadwarrior]

Wallowing, huh.

[He cocks his head to the side.]

Are you enjoying or wallowing? I've been feeling pretty alright, actually.

.....

Until people take my records.

[mucked]

[ she's been doing neither, clearly. look how busy she's been collecting extra bodies for the ship. or -- or setting up a lovely little space where they can all enjoy or wallow in some music. not just him; not just her, either, when she steals away to his corner of the cargo bay and flips listlessly through his collection. ]

It's -- it was for a good cause.

[ stiff; argumentative. ]

[theroadwarrior]

[.... Ahhhuhhh.]

Don't doubt it. But.

M'doing alright. You don't need to go extra miles for me.

[He wags his hands lazily.]

Or you could, uh. You know... just... ask for company. Unless that's too easy for you.

[mucked]

[ and yet, the extra miles will be gone all the same. it can't be helped; although she'd rather prefer it didn't get referenced aloud. ]

If I did, [ she hedges, ] would you say yes?

[ -- because she's not always convinced he agrees because he wants to share her company. sometimes, maybe, she fears being humoured. max is a difficult puzzle; she can't always suss out where his preferences begin and his suffering ends. ]

1/2

[theroadwarrior]

Mmm... Yeah.

Would I want to? Maybe not. But I would.

[Unspoken: because you asked for it.

He looks humored, though, as he considers the options.]

It's about as effective as moving my record player.

[theroadwarrior]

... You do know I would've let you use it, too, if you just asked, right?

[Good luck with that sussing.]

1/2

[mucked]

[ oh, she glares. it's a good glare, too. heated and defensive -- with her mouth drawn into a tight line. the sort of glares best reserved for the likes of howard stark, maybe, although there is absolutely nothing the two men have in common.

except, perhaps, her unlikely friendship. ]

2/2

[mucked]

[ peggy breathes in. ]

-- Would you like to listen to some music with me, Max?

[ don't you dare flip this on her now, max. her heart can't take it. ]

[theroadwarrior]

[He hums, thinking so very hard on it.]

Well... Hmm.

Since I'm fixing the, ahm, chair version of me —

[He reaches over and nudges the chair; watch how it rattles on it's awful, busted leg.]

— guess I could stand some company.