GOLDSTONE OCTOBER MINGLE

[spacebro]

Who: Goldstoners and visitors and lurkers, oh my!
Broadcast: In prompts maybe
Action: Goldstone
When: October

[There have been some mysterious energy drains registering not only on the sensors but in the way the lights seem to dim for a few moments before returning to their normal strength. Maybe a non-essential computer terminal goes dark and needs to be rebooted. It's not causing any damage, but it is mysterious, no?

If you investigate through some special ability or using the ship's diagnostic tools you'll probably come to the conclusion that the energy is funneling into sleeping crewmate, Mon-El's, room and actually right into Mon-El himself. Alien cells are weird, guys.

It only lasts a day or two before he's awake and leaving the ship's energy where it belongs!

And enough about Mon-El, we have a new crewmate (Alphy) and a dead crewmate (Okita). These are exciting times!]

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[lord_wizard]

[If Jayden is paying any attention at all...which is doubtful...Felix actually strides into the kitchen once, pauses to notice her, then fixes himself a snack without attempting to engage her in conversation even once. Normally he's a talkative man himself, but the fixed expression on her face gives him pause.

However, not long after disappearing the first time with a speculative frown between his eyebrows, he reappears and slides into the a seat opposite her at the table, where he immediately starts to sort a deck of cards.]

I think it says something about me that I have not bothered to procure a more regular set of playing cards, but these fortune telling cards do the trick, provided one takes the time to sort out the trumps first. It all amounts to the same in the end. These are just a bit more interesting to look at...

[There is of course no nicety like a greeting, but the blandness of the statement, outside of it coming out of nowhere, is his way of testing the social waters]

[stormfist]

[ She notices his first entrance, actually, just... doesn't really move - can't really bring herself to. It's when he comes back the second time that she finally looks up, especially as he's sitting across from her, deck of cards in hand. And then he's just talking about playing cards versus fortune telling cards like it ain't no thing and she's not just sitting here being some down-in-the-dumps lump of a human being right now and... Okay. She appreciates that.

She scrubs at her eyes with the hand not holding that coffee mug. She's still sleep-deprived, after all. ]

So, what, suits line up and everything? Same number of face cards?

[lord_wizard]

[On one hand, he struggles still with empathy, given that fellow-feeling was something that could become a weakness back in the halls of the Mirador. But not only had it been years since he'd been a part of that, but the ability to at least read the emotional climate of others was a useful skill he'd honed regardless of whether he used it for good or ill.

He isn't sure why she's taking this all so hard, but he has a number of guesses, none of which make for a good opening to a conversation. Best to ease her into it, if she gets there at all.]

There are equivalencies, yes. Not all cards of this sort have the same symbology, of course, and most of that has to do with the culture from which they originate. But as far as I have been able to determine, it's wands to clubs, spades to swords, cups to hearts, and pentacles to diamonds. The face cards are largely the same, though there are four in this sort and only three in playing card decks. You can honestly use either, but the knight seems a better substitute for Jack, and we discard the Page with the trump cards.

[Demonstratively, he places a Page of Wands on the growing pile of discards, then smiles tightly]

Not that any of this matters when a game is the goal rather than divination. Speaking of which, what games are you familiar with? I'm sure Long Tiffany isn't one of them, but perhaps solitaire? I've found it's roughly similar.

[stormfist]

[ She watches, and listens - finds herself thankful for the distraction, honestly. And when he asks, she shakes her head. ]

Yeah, never heard of Long Tiffany. Heard of solitaire. Poker, gin rummy, couple of others. Been a while since I've played any of them, though.

[lord_wizard]

It was popular in my own world, but I'm used to the lack of recognition at this point.

[He shoves the discarded trumps asides and starts to shuffle the remainders. He isn't terribly good at it, but practiced enough to get it done without making cards fly all around the room. The stiffness in his fingers, largely disguised by his large rings, are mostly to blame for this]

Well, lucky for you I don't intend to play for money. Double solitaire, then?

[And again, he's not really waiting for her to answer in the affirmative, he's already dealing]

[stormfist]

[ Well, she was going to say yes anyway, but hey, he's already dealing. So she nods, watching. ]

Sure, why not. Could use the distraction. [ Beat. ] Which you probably guessed.

[ GEE, YOU THINK? ]

[lord_wizard]

[He smiled a thin but deeply amused smile, as he set up the game.]

I had some idea...yes. [The word is accented by the soft fwip of a card, like a physical exclamation mark]

It's been...rather difficult for us all. Some more than others. [Which is clearly a leading remark, especially with the slight hitch in his eyebrow]

[stormfist]

[ She squints at him - she sees you... - but there's no actual malice or defensiveness to it. Actually she takes a deep breath, reaches to straighten the placement of some of those cards as she speaks. ]

... Two things. First one: Aizawa was still on that planet. Put his student on the last shuttle, told me to look after her. The last shuttle never made it to him.

[ She almost manages to get through all of that with the even tone of a soldier. Almost. But it falls apart in the end, her voice shaking a bit. She clears her throat, acting like it didn't happen. ]