driftfleet | Spirit in the wood, beat the hollow cane

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Spirit in the wood, beat the hollow cane

Who: Everyone planetside

Broadcast: Not today

Action: Planetside

When: Today

There's a fine art to laying a curse. Whether it's a person or a place, the curse comes down to wishing. The sincere and honest hope for misery and pain is as natural as living and learning to deal with all manner of unpleasant happenstance. What displeases is often looked at as worthy of destruction.

Mantis, therefore, has much to wish for. While his initial agreement to find their medic was made in necessity, he also realized he needs some time alone with his thoughts. More importantly, he needs time to get used to the thoughts of the local wildlife and the people of the planet. Being set upon by hostiles is far from new to him, but it has been a long time since he's felt it so strongly. So deep in the bones of his surroundings.

He mutters under his breath as he walks, alert for any sign of brain activity, both primitive and advanced. His breath is filled with curses for the planet: for it to be starved of sunlight. For it to shrivel and die like fruit left out in the sun. For it's people to come at him to face a swift demise. At least others can be taken up with the comms tower, but he trusts the truly wise to know how to repair something so complicated. They have their specialty and he has his.

Furious as he is, there is a different noise cutting through his words as he walks out carefully in his leather uniform.

There is a hissing, almost gleeful laughter.

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Matt is no stranger to violence; after all this time, he can practically smell it on someone else (usually do it literally to, in a manner of speaking). The way Mantis's heart pounds that steady thump-thump of measured anger is so familiar to him, it's almost comforting. Matt's angry too. In fact, he'd kind of like to go out and find those missile silos and beat every asshole who fired at them within an inch of their life.

But he also got the feeling Mantis isn't the type of person to stop at that last inch. Maybe it was the whole 'take over the world' thing.

He's waiting at the airlock door, just past the dark and out into the coolness of the shadows, dressed down in black as he waits for Mantis to leave. He'll just tail him a little bit, follow him and make sure he doesn't do anything too rash. That's all he's going to do.

Blood does make for a fragrent marker of someone indulging in a fight. Those silos are the least of their worries, but they would make for a hell of a statement. A kind of "back off" that makes it clear strangers can be your worst nightmare.

He looks back over his shoulder as Matt comes closer into range. How interesting! It's not often he's tailed by someone who seemed, at least at first, to be so ordinary. He reaches up to a tree and breaks off a small twig from one of the branches. The redness of the planet and it's star are nothing short of fascinating.

"I know you're there. You're good, but you're not the only one who has tricks up their sleeve."

Well, fuck.

Matt waits a moment to see if he'd been talking to someone else, listening for another heartbeat, for the snap of footsteps on the forest floor before sighing and sliding a little closer, though still in the coolness of the shadows. "Wasn't planning on attacking you or anything."

"I would know if you were. Matthew Murdock..." He makes a thoughtful noise and laughs a little louder. "How our crew is so full of surprises! You didn't learn to do this out mere interest in living in the shadows. What spurned this kind of self-training?"

"You'll have to read my book to find out." LOOK. Just because you found him out doesn't mean he's gonna share his life story. A secret ID might not mean a lot here but old habits die hard and you ain't at that friendship tier yet. "You're going out hunting, aren't you?"

"If that is the option left open to me, certainly." Mantis has a deep respect for the names people call themselves. There's a reason he only ever uses his codename, but this is something that reeks of both familiarity and the allure of the new. "Hunting, searching, stretching my legs. Whatever keeps the spirits high on this desolate little rock."

"You and Looma don't show a whole lot of restraint, do you?" Like, seriously, you guys reek of blood sometimes when you come back. "If you need someone to keep a lookout, I can do it."

"There was only one person who ever managed to draw such a response from me, and he's not here." Hey, blood sports are fun when you're in a bad mood. If they're willing to take a risk in attacking, they must accept that death can circle back towards them. "I would appreciate that. We need to find our medic. Doctors are notoriously delicate people."

"Did he wander off?" He hadn't noticed a heartbeat missing before when they crashed-

Oh. Wait, Jarvis. He could've miscounted. That's...not good at all.

"You can see why I might make a few excursions into the wilds. He'll turn up eventually, but until then, we need to be braver than the wildlife would like us to be."

He floats closer to where Matt is, landing quietly on the dirt. "Join me on my walk today. I can't imagine you are feeling much better about this situation."

"No," Matt admits, but he's still...hm. "I don't kill people, though. Even ones like these." So as long as that's not an issue with Mantis, then it won't be an issue at all. Matt usually tries to keep killing from happening too, but he's not exactly equipped to stop every murder ever and isn't particularly inclined to care about a bunch of fucking cannibals that shot down a ton of ships for the sake of hunting the passengers.

Mantis makes a surprised noise, then laughs. "We all have our standards. All right. You can hold back all you want, but I hope you don't mind if I don't. My patience ended when the ship crashed."

His footsteps lead into the wilds once more, away from the ship.

_{[He's been wandering around the planet with his dog Umbra trying to find survivors and injured. He didn't want to venture into the jungle but this was the last place he hadn't checked and now that he was in here... he thinks he should have come sooner.

But he charges forward and his psyche can be felt first.

A need to find people. A wariness, a fear of the unknown.... a desire to stay in this adventure, to maintain the status quo.... and an unbridled desire to fuck his wife senseless the first chance he gets.

He hears the laughter and slowly approaches thinking it's an enemy only to find... well he isn't totally sure what to make of this. The guy was floating and laughing and... hey wasn't he at the wedding? He just slowly comes closer.]}

Hey... you okay? What's gotten into you? It's nuts in here, I know the way out of the jungle.

[Clear as a bell ringing in the silence of dawn. What a noble spirit comes his way! He'll politely sneer at the desire Noctis has for his wife, though. Personal standards. Mantis judges everyone in that particular matter.

He's floating, occasionally sailing into a tree just to have a look at what lies around him, and there's the husband! Mantis tilts his head to one side and lays his hands upon his hips.]

You are possibly the perfect image of a doting and loving husband. No wonder she smiled at you the way she did. [He gestures widely to the wilderness surrounding them both.] Nothing has gotten into me more than the usual neurosis and the desire to exact revenge on those who would strike me down. Given that we stand to be eaten at every turn, it becomes so much more personal. It isn't just the disregard for the living, it's also the dead.

Psycho Mantis. I was lighting sparklers at your wedding reception.

_{[Well at least Mantis is polite about it? He can't help it, he just loves his wife... under the lust is pure love for every part of her? Unconditional love? Underneath that is sadness... because she is dead at home and soon he will be too. They live in a bubble right now where they can live happily as a married couple and he means to make the most of it. Judge him all you want, masked man.

Also there's a SWEET DOGGO here who has more primitive thoughts like 'bacon. I love bacon. I want daddy to give me bacon. If I am a good boy maybe he will. I miss mommy. I don't smell her here. I have daddy to protect though. Who are all these people, I'll KILL THEM. But I want bacon.'

Noctis watches the man float up into the trees and stands with his mouth agape.]}

I remember you. How... how do you know that? What do you mean the perfect image?

Ah, yeah... it's personal. I'm here looking for wounded or crash survivors. Have you seen any? Ah... do you want any help?

Edited 2017-10-28 16:27 (UTC)

[Oh, he is far from any person fit to judge honest affection people carry for others. It's just the manifestations of lust he takes issue with. If you ignore that, Noctis is sweet and doting, as a husband should be.

He does a kind of flash step off the branch, vanishing in shadow only to appear on the ground. Then he kneels down and beckons to Umbra. Dogs, animals in general, are much more his speed. They do not ask for more than food and affection.]

She clouds your thoughts like leaves on the wind. Only the good husbands ever think so highly of their wives. [His head tilts the other way.] Well, you found me and I am with the crew of the Bishop. We're trying to find our medic and thus, here I am. I suppose any help would be the locations of other crash sites, assuming there are any nearby to be found.

_{[Well it's not lust per se... to him lust was sexual desire without an emotional connection. He was madly in love with his wife so it could never be just plain lust but... sure he was a virile young man with a hefty boner for his lady-mate. Sue him.

Noctis flinches when Mantis teleports. He blinks at him but then Umbra approaches him without hesitation. His tail is waggling and he sits in front of the newcomer expecting a head pet or a kind word.]}

....what do you mean, how can you know that?

...I... just began my search into the jungle. I haven't found any downed ships other than the Bishop so far. In the jungle, that is, outside there's plenty of others.

[And to Mantis, it's an aspect of people he looks down upon for the sheer volume of ways people us it to hurt others. Perspective changes everything about how two people view the same thing.

What a good dog! Animals lack a certain amount of fear that people possess in abundance. He offers his hand to sniff and tries petting Umbra behind the ears.]

The same way I know a lot of things. [He taps his head.] I listen.

Damn. We are more scattered on this planet than we should be. It's going to be a while before we're able to talk to others with any reliability.

_{[He can understand that but Noct's intentions are pure... not that it would make a difference to someone in Mantis' perspective.

And Umbra is quite happy to receive head scratches. He kicks his back leg on the ground when Mantis hits a sweet spot. His thoughts are as follows 'oooh good feels. Goood feels. Never stop this. I love human.']}

Uh... sure... I don't know what that means. You heard us at the wedding or something?

Ah yeah, most of the crew is really scattered it's concerning. My wife is working to get them corraled. We split up to double our efforts. We're on our own as far as communication. So we're looking for everyone and trying to get them together.

[Not particularly, but he'll grant a certain allowance for the sake of love.

Aww, what a good dog! Mantis remembers DD and how fluffy he had been. It's not every day that you see a canine as equally cycloptic as it's owner. Shame he never could get away with playing with the wolf dog... Umbra gets a lot of generous head rubs, especially behind the neck.]

Oh, more than that. It's my greatest talent and skill.

We're lucky that there are such concerned and active citizens looking out for the fleet. You don't carry yourself like a soldier. Too...soft around the edges for that.

_{[Mantis is a gentleman and a scholar!

And he's the best dog. He enjoys annoying his parents with his squeaky toys, eating everything, and trying to play on the bed when they're having sex.

Umbra has no collar but he's got a green strap around his body he'll appreciate if that is scratched.]}

Ah... what you read minds or something?

Oh... yeah my friend might agree with you if he were here. I'm not a soldier. I was a prince at home... king now, I guess... I'm nobody here. Just a guy with an arsenal of swords and magic.

[Emotions and sentiment have their place in the world, even if actions do not reflect them accurately at times.

Mantis likes Umbra already. Good dogs invite themselves everywhere, especially when they aren't wanted. He lets his nails go all over and around that strap. Pity not the working man, but adore the working dog.]

Got it in one. You would be amazed at how often people miss that.

A father who recently died? My condolences. [Not that he's one to really miss father figures all that much.] You have more skills than the average civilian. You kept yourself alive on this planet thus far. That speaks to combat skills, if little else.

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Spirit in the wood, beat the hollow cane

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Sorry about the late reply!

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