the veil is thin . . .

[thespaceopera]

[ On the night of the 16th, the feeling of tension and horrid anticipation comes to a head. Everything stops when the sun goes down-- even the ever-present music in the hoppingest part of the city center. One by one, everyone turns their eyes to the skies. The young and old alike pour out of their houses, some in bare feet, and they point to the velvety blanket of stars.

It takes a second to find it, especially if one is unaccustomed to the starscape. But even a casual observer can see it.

A brightly-shining star, larger than the others, and growing larger.

An announcement cuts across all communication channels that encourages people to evacuate to the space station, but it’s clear that these are just people and they’ll need some help. Supplies, equipment, organization, there’s something for everyone to do.

Civilization is disrupted by a panicked stampede of people vying for limited seats aboard spacefaring craft. Within hours, there will be crushed glass, looting, and chaos.

The clock is ticking. Will you help? Or would you rather watch the dying gasps of a Singing Planet from a safe distance? ]

[OOC: Please see this post for plot details. Phase two has begun! Feel free to use this post as a reaction post, mingle, etc. or make your own!]

Comments

[whatisright]

Follow me. [Justice starts walking in the right direction, though he keeps an eye on Matthew to make sure that he's able to follow. The terrain is rocky and uneven, and Justice doesn't know how easy it is to navigate when one needs a cane to poke around and see where they can step.

The couple is still yelling and complaining and questioning as they grab what little they can and slip on their shoes, but they run after Justice, still loudly talking.] "I'm just saying, they should send trained professionals to get us. Not weirdos." "How did you even find us?" "Do we have time to go back to our house?"

[Justice opens his mouth to answer once or twice, but they keep on talking before he can get a word in edgewise. He decides to just let them talk.]

[echovocation]

[After the third time Matthew just. Pats Justice's elbow gently. Don't worry about it, man, just leave it be. Let them wear themselves out.] So is this what you've been doing? Stumbling across people out in the wilderness to save?

[whatisright]

[Being touched is a strange sensation, especially now that Justice isn't stuck in a body with rotting nerve endings. On top of the physical sensation, the closeness makes Matt's presence buzz against his senses all the more insistently. It's not an unpleasant sensation, but it is strange.

All this just manifests in Justice tensing in surprise when Matt touches him, then relaxing a moment after.]

I can sense where the stragglers are, now that there are increasingly few. I find them so that they can be evacuated.

[echovocation]

Wouldn't you make better time on that if you had someone helping you out? [Not him. Matthew's got his own shit to take care of in town, aka chasing people out of their homes when they refuse to leave their things behind and would rather die. Like morons.]

[whatisright]

Considering these people's reactions, you may be right. [Justice underestimated how much his inexperience with mortals would inhibit him. He thought that saying 'there is a meteor coming to kill you so follow me if you want to live' would be enough to get them to come along.] What were you doing out here?

[It occurs to him that it's weird for a blind man to be hiking around a mountain range when there's an evacuation going on.]

[echovocation]

['I heard the yelling from all the way in town' probably won't go over too well]

Same as you, actually. Though with a lot less success. I might also be hiding out from my ship captain. [There's some truth to that last one...]

[whatisright]

Why? Are you arguing? [Avoiding one's ship captain doesn't sound like a good sign for the chain of command on the ship. Justice isn't one to follow authority blindly, though, so he understands decisions to remove oneself from command when there's no respect for the leader.

He actually has no idea how a blind man would be able to effectively find stragglers alone in the wilderness, but Matthew seems confident in his own abilities and was even able to help Justice, so Justice isn't going to question it too much.]

[echovocation]

She's just protective. [Tried to keep him on ship arrest. Even if he wasn't some kind of super sense blind ninja, Matt would take issue with that.] I ended up giving her the slip. I'm sure she'll be upset when I get back...if she's noticed.

[whatisright]

If she has not noticed, then she is not very good at being protective. [Which isn't necessarily a bad thing. Justice considers protectiveness okay up until it crosses into depriving a person of free will and autonomy.

The couple choose this moment to pause their incessant chatter to snap,] "Hey, are you even listening?"

[If Justice were human enough to roll his eyes, that is totally what he'd be doing right now.] No, I am deliberately ignoring you.

[echovocation]

[Well he feels kinda bad, he doesn't want Justice to go making up his mind about someone he's never met just because Matt's talking smack about her when she's not around. ...and then he remembers that she's like seven fucking feet tall with four arms and also was perfectly okay forcing him to stay on the ship because he's blind and he feels less bad. She can handle herself.]

Actually, you've got it from here, don't you? You know where the town is; you'll see where the evacuation routes are as well, I'm sure. We should stay out here to check for more campers. [Mostly 'you two can go away because we don't like you' but also 'hurry up and survive instead of bitching' in there too.]

[whatisright]

[Justice doesn't tend to make up his mind about people before he's met them unless he knows of something truly heinous they've done. Like The Mother and her whole 'murder everyone' deal. He was able to decide he didn't like her before they met.

The couple grumble to themselves as they push ahead, leaving without so much as a thank you while rambling about creeps and such.

This is another moment where Justice would totally be rolling his eyes if he were a bit more human, but that's okay because everything in his body language screams an eye roll anyway.] I count myself lucky that all mortals aren't that obnoxious. [He takes a sudden sharp turn.] I sense more this way.

[echovocation]

I like to give them the benefit of the doubt, where possible. They were just interrupted during their honeymoon and told their planet's about to die, after all. [Doesn't really give them a pass to go right for the blind thing, but he'd be pretty irate in a situation like that too.

Good thing Justice has got some sensors though, because Matt was not looking forward to circling back around to pick up all the stragglers later.]

[whatisright]

This is true. [He has a feeling that obnoxiousness is just their personality though, but that's just the impression he gets from seeing into their minds.

Justice almost points ahead, but Matthew wouldn't be able to see it, so he just speaks instead.] I believe there are adolescents this way, camping with their friends.

[echovocation]

You could probably scare them into running for the town. Tell them you're a spectre of their future or something. [He's joking.]

[whatisright]

Would that not make it difficult to get them to go the direction we want them to?

[Guess who still has trouble getting mortal humor.]

[echovocation]

That depends on which way you run when you chase them. [it's kinda fun]

[whatisright]

But there are many of them and one of me. They could go in different directions.

This seems inefficient.

[Matthew you're confusing the spirit.]

[echovocation]

Ah. [Clicks his tongue.] That's a good point. Better stick to diplomacy after all.

[whatisright]

[Justice squints at Matthew, because this tangent seems strange. Obviously, diplomacy would be better, and Matthew isn't stupid. Why would...

...oh.]

You were joking, weren't you?

[Now we see the wild spirit getting a clue. Watch closely, for this is a rare sight indeed.]

[echovocation]

Sorry. [He gets jokes! That's good to know.] I can keep conversation literal if that's easier for you.

[whatisright]

Do not restrain yourself for my sake. I must learn how to identify them anyway.

[Justice is going to be living with mortals for a while. He's going to have a rough time if he can never understand when they're not being literal.]

I will simply assume that anything particularly ridiculous you say is intended to be a joke.

[echovocation]

Good rule of thumb. Mortals generally go for that too. [But he can't spend forever helping Justice when there's much more he could be doing in costume.] I'm afraid I might just slow you down out here though. I'm going to head back into town, see if I can do anything there.

[whatisright]

Very well. [Justice considers offering his help getting back, but Matthew made it this far without anyone. Besides, Matthew probably knows by now that Justice is willing to render assistance if he needs it.] Thank you for helping me with that couple.

[echovocation]

Ah. [Waves a hand dismissively.] Don't mention it. Look after yourself, okay? Don't get left behind. [He'll just pick his way back to the town, no need to worry about him. ...though as soon as he's out of sight from Justice, he'll fold that cane up and jog back.]