driftfleet | everybody's starstruck in june.

Entry tags:

everybody's starstruck in june.

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! ]

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[ once. ]

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

[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.]

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. ]

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.

[ 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. ]

[.... 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.

[ 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. ]

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.

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

[Good luck with that sussing.]

[ 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. ]

[ 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. ]

[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.

You pick the record, I think.

[ after all, they're his. she strides over to the box of sleeves. once they're settled -- once he's in the throes of his work -- she's got more that needs saying. peggy's not certain how he'll take it; well, she hopes, when she explains why she wants someone else to learn the pilot's controls aboard the ship.

it's a double-edged sword. by his own words, he's admitted he's doing better. but better isn't necessarily good enough when it comes to the ship's holistic safety. ]

[Is that so? Well then.

He's gonna go for something Bowie. Space Oddity is kind of appropriate, don't you think?
Where'd all these English singers come from, anyway. He works patiently, and he doesn't seem to at all mind silences some others may find numbing or awkward; no, he doesn't mind at all. If either of them has something to say, they'll say it. Peggy of course is far more chatty than he'll ever be, but. Maybe that's a good thing.

Eventually the chair is stable. He wiggles it with a hand, and is content that it doesn't thump back and forth on the floor.]

[ -- marginally appropriate. at least until the tragedy kicks in. and the papers want to know whose shirts you wear. there's an ethereal, wheedling quality to the man's voice that catches her ear again and again. she takes a seat on the sofa and lets him work in relative peace.

in time, she falls in love with the saxophone.

eventually the chair is stable. peggy watches him give it an experimental wobble. then, with an expectant look, she gestures for him to take the seat himself. ]

Moment of truth. Tell us how it is.

[You know, he has the mental image of Charlie Brown getting the football pulled out from under him. The whole scenario just plays out in his head, and he almost feels the ache in his back as he stares at her victoriously holding that football up in the air. Only it's a chair and he's become a sad turtle.

... Boy, he has an imagination on him.

He plops down on the chair, thoughtful, brow as serious as ever despite how very not serious he is.]

... Hasn't collapsed to spite me.

Think that means it's a success.

[ -- peggy smiles. as ever, it's a rather muted thing. but she's pleased with his success. more so, perhaps, that he'd chased it in the first place. rather than fixing up his own things, he's fixed something for them.

he's likely right; she ought to have just asked him. blimey, he's come far. ]

The cat's out of its bag. [ she pulls her legs up onto the couch, sitting with her knees bent. ] I know how handy you are, now. You'll never lack for chores.

Don't, uh, mind so much.

It gives me things to do. M'used to always moving, remember?

... If I can't move in miles, I can move in other ways.

[So... You know. Whether he grumbles or not about it, he does like keeping his hands busy. Even the hand that aches a lot more than it used to. That's what happens when you get it crushed under a steering wheel that's being pulled by a monster truck.]

I think we all feel a bit like that. [ she pauses. ] To varying degrees.

[ -- and perhaps that's her sympathetic ingress. peggy leans an arm on the sofa's back and watches max as he sits. is it odd, maybe, to find the sight of him in a proper chair a bit unnerving? unusual. ]

You can fix things. Do you think you could build them, too?

[ simple things. nothing too grand or ambitious. ]

Sure. Most people from back home take to it. Fixing and building.

[It doesn't usually last long, whatever's built, but building does happen.

But he does remember doing plenty of repairs, fixing the ol' auto for Jessie, things like that. He's built some additions. Hell, he built a swing once, one of those relaxing swings you watch the water with. Back when there was water left.]

I'm best at engines 'n car parts, but I could probably figure out whatever needs to be built...

Depending on our luck with upcoming star systems, I might see if I can source you some wood to work with.

[ she glances around the lounge; for the time being, it's awfully bare. ]

Our numbers have swelled a bit. Another seating option or two might be helpful.

[He glances around the room, too.]

... It doesn't look that bad.

Better than rusty folding chairs?

[#deserthobo]

Ideally, yes.

[ she wants to impress the new recruits, max. just -- not too much. manage expectations and all that. ]

A bench would do.

... I guess I could make a bench.

[How hard could it be.]

Won't even leave any splinters.

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