Pathstone Mingle

[onlyanapple]

Who: The crew of the SS we don't know what we're doing Pathstone.
Broadcast: Maybe?
Action: Pathstone/ The docking volcano on Mor.
When: Any time post shuffle.

[EVERY DAY IS A FUN DAY ON THIS SHIP]

Comments

[killedwithlove]

[Arrival is just confusing for Cole. He doesn't like being moved without his permission and he doesn't know where this place is either.

He doesn't panic, exactly, but he does start trying to feel out the space, if he can get out and move, or if he's trapped.

The door with his name is mostly ignored, for the simple reason that he's illiterate.]

[dawnwillcome]

[Guess who is the happiest ever to see you, Cole? Spoilers it's the Inquisitor you barely know! When she finds him she smiles broadly and goes straight to him, ducking her head a little to see under the wide brim of his hat.]

I was hoping you'd end up here. How are you, Cole?

[killedwithlove]

[Helpfully, Cole ducks his head when she does, hiding himself a bit more behind the hat.]

I'm still not hurt. It's less quiet here, but it's still too quiet.

[He rocks back and forth on his feet, plucking at some loose threads on his hand wraps.]

It's small. But it's not a cell. I don't know where to go or what to do.

[dawnwillcome]

Well, how about I show you where the kitchen is? Each time someone new shows up, the people in charge of this operation send something called pudding for us to eat. You might like it if you tried it.

[killedwithlove]

[Cole's nose wrinkles at the mention of food. He's sipped water a few times, but actually eating something doesn't sound appealing to this little spirit yet.]

Blech. I don't eat. Or sleep. Did your Cole do those things?

[dawnwillcome]

[He's just... he's just so cute and she's just so fond of him.]

He's given it a few tries, but I don't think he's quite used to it yet. But human bodies need food and rest, Cole, we don't want you getting sick.

[killedwithlove]

I'm not human.

[Just in case she's forgotten that. He wears a human shape, but he's not a human.]

I'm not mortal at all. I'm a spirit. Mostly. My inside is mostly spirit, but my outside is a person.

[dawnwillcome]

Do you never feel hunger, then? Even though the outside bits are human?

[They never really got to the how to care for your now slightly more human Cole bits, so she really isn't sure exactly what kind of things his body does need.]

[killedwithlove]

No. I don't feel hunger. I know hunger. Heavy, hollow, crawling my throat and pulling my belly to my spine. It aches, aches in my bones, like I'll be sick but there's nothing left.

[As he's spoken, he's started to fold over and maybe for a moment, he seems that bit more frail and pale.

Then he stands up straight again and it's just Cole.]

No hunger. I sometimes sit quietly for a while and let my body rest. But I don't sleep.

[dawnwillcome]

[Well, that's... certainly a thing, but Jove just nods and reaches out with the intent to put her hand on Cole's arm.]

We'll skip the pudding, then. Shall I show you those yellow flowers you asked about instead?

[killedwithlove]

[Cole perks up completely, his whole body lifting.]

Yes. I like flowers. I don't understand why people cut them off the plant and put them in vases.

[dawnwillcome]

[And that settles that pretty much immediately. She leads him down the hall and towards her room, watching him over her shoulder as she goes.]

Did you know it's possible to replant cut flowers?

[killedwithlove]

No! I didn't know. How do they grow without leaves or roots?

[He does know a bit about how plants grow.]

[onlyanapple]

[Crowley's got used to the fanfare of a new arrival, and always comes to investigate. You never know if they got someone interesting. He takes one look at Cole and freezes. He pale hair and skin, the drawn in eyes. Shit.

Pollution in of himself isn't that much of a problem, but where there is one, the other three usually follow and they are a lot less fun to handle. He isn't ready for this crap to start up again.

It takes another moment to realise that...no. This kid isn't human, but he isn't a Horseperson, either. Curious. Crowley steps a little closer, squinting behind his shades. ]

Well. This is new.

[killedwithlove]

[Cole feels the hostility, maybe not the right word, wariness? Whatever it is directed at him, he can feel it and it makes him take a step back and then teleport back another step in a curl of black green smoke.]

Yes. It is. Unwinding, uncurling, unspooling worry that coils, catches, curious and cautious. You don't feel like most people. You almost feel like a mage, but you're not.

[onlyanapple]

[Crowley raises an eyebrow, before folding his arms, leaning on the wall of the ship. He never likes it when people get in his head. Hell did it all the time, and he always found it deeply unsettling.]

No, I'm a demon. What about you? You're not human.

[killedwithlove]

[Cole looks panicked and teleports across the room, reaching behind him for weapons he doesn't have.]

No, no no no, not demons, you should be in the Fade, not here, here isn't good for you!

[He reaches out again, but for all that Crowley says he's a demon, he doesn't feel like one. There's no overwhelming emotion, Cole can't see what he is.]

You're... are you a demon like I was? Drawn too tight, taut, tangled, tripping over the world.

[onlyanapple]

[Luckily Crowley is used to people freaking out about the demon news. ]

I'm not the kind who actually goes about slaughtering people before you-

[No wait.]

You were a demon?

[killedwithlove]

I think I was a demon. Solas says the only difference between a spirit and a demon is people's opinion.

I wasn't a spirit. But I was a spirit. I killed people, but I thought I had to to help them. I can't see who you are, and if you were a demon, I would be able to.

[onlyanapple]

Sounds a bit like angels and demons, to be brutally honest.

[He gives a soft huff, because wow, he is SO TOO a demon. Just...the worst one. Ever.]

Well, demons are different in every world.

Name's Crowley.

[killedwithlove]

Crowley is a person's name, not a demon's name.

[Much like his own name. He knows how these things work.]

I'm Cole.

[onlyanapple]

My real name is a little hard for mortals to pronounce.

Nice to meet you, Cole. Welcome to the Pathstone.

[killedwithlove]

I'm not a mortal. I'm a spirit.

Hello, the Pathstone.

[onlyanapple]

I'm pretty sure the ship isn't going to answer you back.

But hey, it might, who knows.

[killedwithlove]

It won't talk to you if you don't talk to it first. Most things are like that.