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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[ 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.

That is about the bare minimum one could ask for, yes -- [ no splinters.

the song switches over to the next. her head tilts; she listens to the differences inherent and can't help a wrinkle in her forehead when she attempts to sublimate new sounds.

but then her thoughts fall on max again and she gestures that he should join her on the couch. ]

I've got another favour to ask of you.

[ she's just rollin' in them today. ]

[He quirks an eyebrow, slowly moving to join her on the couch.

He sinks a bit, stretching out his bum knee.]

Awfully needy, today.

[Though he's really just teasing. Poking at her. Especially since she's been poking back, sure, but it's also just become part of their routine. Maybe it makes him feel more human.]

[ awfully needy, he says. and it might be true -- just a bit -- but she scowls all the same. had another member of the crew (perhaps even steve) accused her of it, she might have had their head in retribution. max, as ever, is absolved. ]

One of the new crew, [ she doesn't say his name. not yet. ] I want him to familiarize himself with the ship's piloting controls. We were spoiled when we had both you and Ahsoka able to fly the thing if necessary.

[ max will stay her pilot. but they both know, she hopes, that despite his progress he might still have some bad days. ]

Don't be too rude with him while he's trying to learn it. He hasn't got a pilot's augment, but wherever-the-devil he comes from sees him captaining a spaceship of his own. So I thought the opportunity would be worth seizing.

[ peggy rarely speaks so gently around a topic. for once, she's beating around the bush. ]

[He quiets for a moment. While he wasn't entirely skeptical of her needing two pilots, her careful mentioning of it -- having him sit down, laying it down carefully -- it does make him wonder if this is about what he thinks it's about. And if he said it didn't bother him, didn't make him feel some sliver of guilt and doubt in himself, he'd be lying. He knows, though. That he's... not... always reliable. The underwater world was an example of that.

He nods slowly.]

It's a good idea.

Ahm. It's good to be prepared. Two is... good.

[ -- truth is, she would happily open max up to more responsibility. peggy had taken him into serious consideration when she'd been thinking about her next first mate. he'd as good as laughed her out of the room. and maybe that's why she feels skittish, now, to lay too much on his shoulders.

peggy nods -- trying hard to be satisfied. it doesn't come easily to her. ]

I wouldn't take it too personally. [ a huff. ] After all, it's not like I don't also have a back-up. In case -- well. In case I can't be counted on.

[He raises his eyebrow.]

Being counted on and not being a risk are a little different from each other.

[He's not about to think Peggy and he are on equal footing here. She's more in control, better at handling herself. And that's not even talking about her occasional moment where she has to battle her heart versus her head. This is literally mental capabilities here, mental stability. He does take it personally. Not angrily, but personally. He knows he's, ahm. Sick. Clinical whacko. Criminal psychotic. Madhatter. Whatever you want to define it as. Lord knows he's made up his fair share of put-downs.

He shifts uncomfortably, thinking of his time aboard the ship.

And of the times he was not available when he could've been, if he wasn't so fucked up.]

M'sorry I can't... uh. [His hands motion, little subtle flicks as he gathers the right way to say it. Ultimately, it's easy:] Be more.

[Being self-aware of your issues sucks.]

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