Tha sin mar bhàs.

[hollystrike]

Who: Katie and you!
Broadcast: Yes!
Action: Planetside
When: Now-ish

[Amusement Park]

[So this is where she goes when she wants time to think, apparently.  The bunker is a place she won't enter; between the heavy aftermath of a mass death and the understandably stricken reactions of its visitors, the atmosphere is far too toxic.  But it doesn't mean she isn't grieving.  The deaths could not be helped and are god knows how far in the past, but the fact that these people have been forgotten - not acknowledged even by this automated town, let alone the rest of space - is something that sits very poorly.  She can't even change anything about the town to reflect its population's final days.

She's walking the rollercoaster tracks, very high up, thinking over the issue.  Don't ask how she got up that high.  And don't worry if you should be using the rollercoaster at the time; she can avoid you.  Might give you a bit of a scare, though, sorry.

Eventually, she puts a call through to Sam.]

[Outside of town]

[As far as she can go before she suspects (or hopes) she's outside the range of the city's replication science so her work isn't scrubbed.  She's not too far from the bunker; it would be pointless if she were too far away from it. 

She finds a rock face smooth enough, and between a thick blade and Kirito's lightsaber she carves a memorial.  Maybe nobody will ever see it, but if any other visitors come to this place, they should know what happened.  It's worth the extra headache.]

[And Broadcast]

I've decided to quit making dreamcatchers and move on to voodoo dolls instead.  It's more fun.  So if you'd like to take one before I end up throwing them all out, feel free.

[Just so you know.  Totally honest, as usual.  Less cheerful than normal.

If anyone wants her she'll be curled up in her office with Licorice on her lap.  She's so tired of these planets.]

Comments

[monolike]

Hmm...blue! Or orange. Or white, maybe, or I like brown too... [sorey you're worthless]

[hollystrike]

[SHE'S SEEN WORSE]

Wanna pick one at random?

[monolike]

[CLOSES HIS EYES AND SPINS AROUND before laying hands on a spool of orange yarn, brightening.] Ooh! Can I make one of those dreamcatcher things with this? I know it probably won't work but it'd be kind of neat to do it...

[hollystrike]

Are you asking for a lesson? [Of course he is. But it's easier to ask the question than saying sure, go for it.]

Orange is pretty bright. It won't keep you up at night, will it? [She switches her carding to sifting through a box of shells, looking for ones that will complement such a bright dream catcher.]

[monolike]

No way, when I'm out I'm out. [It kind of annoys Mikleo, actually.

He starts unwinding some yarn.] Okay, please tell me exactly how to screw this up completely.

[hollystrike]

[Snicker. Oh, he's definitely learning. She pulls out a handful of shells, strewing them across the table.]

Well, to really mess it up takes some wire work. [Let's get one of those wire hoops up here.] And then an awful lot of winding between all points. I'll do one with you, so just follow what I'm doing.

[Or some equivalent, mun has never made a dreamcatcher in her life shh just go with it]

[monolike]

[Sorey hums and watches her intently, unbundling the yarn as much as possible.] So it's more like weaving than anything, [Sorey notes, unwinding a piece he'd wound improperly, examining Katie's hands going through the motions before copying as best as he can.] This is kinda soothing, huh?

[hollystrike]

I find it grating on the nerves. [Dryly. No, he's right; she loves working through wool. Aside from creativity and possibly being a cat, it's a lovely feeling.] Do you have any crafts you practice, Sorey?

[monolike]

I do! I do some leatherwork, mostly accessories and satchels and stuff. [It shows in how quickly he's picking up the weaving, probably, the confidence in his fingers and the movements of his hands.] Though I'd like to try making boots one day.

[hollystrike]

Leatherwork! Is it as smelly as it sounds?

[She assumes curing leather is in there somewhere.]

[monolike]

Oh very. I do most of the curing when we're down on planets because I tried one time in engineering and passed out. Mikleo was furious.

[hollystrike]

Engineering doesn't sound like a particularly aired out space, does it? [She would... probably have made the same mistake tbh, common sense who needs it.] You must have had such a headache.

[monolike]

Oh man, like you wouldn't believe. -Well, you probably would, but it was awful. Mikleo wouldn't let me get out of bed for the rest of the day. [Oop, the thread caught. Sorey sticks his tongue against the back of his teeth as he tries to untangle the mess.]

[hollystrike]

[She watches the tangle for a moment, amused.] I hope he assaulted you with some aspirin. Do you need a hand?

[monolike]

[Hands it over like a child asking mommy to fix] He assaulted me all right. You'd think I was his baby with how he fusses.

[hollystrike]

Are you saying you wouldn't fuss if the same happened to him? [Here bud let me smooth out that woolly mess for ya]

[monolike]

I- well, I would, probably... [Like when they'd argued about him becoming a sub lord, or about when he'd gotten sick from that tainted planet, or about when-

he'd DIED in the MUD like a BEAST

-Sorey blinks, taking back the untangled mess hesitantly.] ...but I think it might be a little different. For him.

[hollystrike]

[...maybe. The flickered image of a dying dragon gives her pause. She's seen the same dragon with someone else, but... different. Mikleo's fear was different. It's almost punctuating the point.]

Maybe so. [Softly.] But different doesn't mean better or worse, it just means sideways.

[monolike]

[Sorey offers her a crooked smile, a little solemn but no less sincere for it. He tries to rewrap the yarn correctly this time, patiently.] You always know how to make the most incomprehensible things look different, [Sorey says idly.] It really helps. Thank you.

[hollystrike]

Are they any less incomprehensible, though? [She crooks a smile in return.] If they are, I should probably be fired.

[monolike]

Heh. [Sorey draws more yarn off the bundle.] Y'know, one time, me and Mikleo got stuck on this puzzle room in the ruins for weeks. For weeks we'd come back to the same puzzle, the same inscription, and argue about it over and over. We just couldn't figure out what it could mean.

And one time, when we were arguing, Mikleo had had enough and he'd just, [Sorey waves his hand imperiously,] iced the ground in front of me as I was storming away. I slipped and fell flat on my back.

Mikleo felt bad right after, but as I was looking at the puzzle upside-down, I finally realized something we'd missed. And when I pointed it out to Mikleo, the look on his face... [Sorey sighs.] It was worth a bump to the head, honestly. And we were so eager to finally get past that stupid puzzle that we were out way past curfew, and got in huge trouble for it.

[hollystrike]

[That is a cute story, Sorey, and she's paused in her own creation to listen.]

Curfews and trouble and upside down. This sounds like a day of the week for me. Well, when I was older. It's interesting how things look so different if you just change the angle, isn't it? It's like your reflection.

[monolike]

[what???] What do you- [wait- is it okay if it's just not a question?] I don't know what you mean.

[hollystrike]

Which part? Reflections or days of the week?

[monolike]

[Oh good, that way of asking is safe. Sorey sighs in relief.] The reflections part.