Drifting

[therewerefifty]

Who: Makie and you!
Broadcast: Nope
Action: Twin Roses / Iskaulit
When: Nowish

[Makie moves back into the Twin Roses with a lack of fanfare.  It's comforting to at least come back to a place with a room that still reads as distinctly hers; the peasant dresses are still tucked away.  The replacement weapon she had made is still here.  Her assurance that she has another life waiting for her in Adstring is gone.  So now, this ship is the only home she has.

She's spent the last weeks rebuilding her stamina, even if it's just by walking the length of the cargo bay and taking long walks through the Iskaulit.  She'll always be a ghastly pale woman, but she no longer has to stop quite so often to get her breath back, and  a recovered appetite means she's finally putting a little meat back on her bones.

She still drifts through the weeks quietly enough.  There's a lot to take in.

-------

Today she owns the melancholy she feels, taking a trip down to the Iskaulit to visit the memory tree.  Her own name is attached here; it's a vague sort of surprise.  She reaches out to remove it, hesitates.  Then finally plucks it from the tree only to move it, clipping it to the piece of card with Lilly's name scrawled on it.  That Makie is long gone, and maybe she gets a happy ending.  It doesn't matter.  It just feels right.

Then she settles quietly by the tree, Misty's shamisen in her lap, and plays.]

Comments

[therewerefifty]

[Oh lord, that's some beautiful confidence there, you sweet kid. If she wasn't currently feeling the death of all her familial attachments, she might have been able to dredge up a smile for him. Instead, she glances down at her hands.]

I never mind an audience. Is he a musician, then?

[monolike]

[Yeah well, confidence is better than that wavering uncertainty he had for a while, so he's kind of faking it until he makes it. Either way, the air around Makie goes a little dark and heavy, so Sorey scoots a little closer to her.] He's not, but he really likes to learn about new stuff. Music in particular has so many cultural ties.

[therewerefifty]

[It's a reasonably fleeting heaviness, at least. She's trying not to dwell on it too much, and music is a good subject for distraction.]

It does. There are so many different instruments and styles I'd never heard before coming to the Fleet. Misty introduced me to jazz.

[monolike]

What does jazz sound like? Can you play any of it?

[therewerefifty]

Not with a shamisen. [She could recreate the melody, but definitely not the feel.]

It's...hard to describe. Nothing like it exists at home. Several different instruments...

I think I have a recording of it in my room, still. [It was more Misty's thing than hers, but she did enjoy the atmosphere.]

[monolike]

Would you be okay with me hearing it sometime? I'd be interested to know what it sounds like. [Sorey isn't a musician either, but he can appreciate beautiful music all the same. And it seems important to Makie, which makes it interesting to him.]

[therewerefifty]

...I don't mind. Not at all. [She smiles a little.] Do you have a... music player on your ship?

[monolike]

Oh- uhhh, I think so! I can double check and send you a message. [Look, he understands the engines slightly better but other technology still kinda goes WHOOSH right over his head.]

[therewerefifty]

IF you don't, I think one exists on my ship. You are welcome to visit.

[Any time, really. It's nice to see people, she's finding.]

[monolike]

It's really okay? [Sorey's never been over to Makie's ship specifically to visit her, but it might be really nice. To get to know more about her, in a setting that's hers.] Do you like tea? I can bring tea with me. Or um, game animal jerky.

[therewerefifty]

Mm. Both, actually. [Well, jerky is hit or miss, but it's something she's familiar with.] I don't mind receiving guests, especially if it's you.

[monolike]

Wha-? [Sorey goes red at that, hand coming up to rub the back of his head. It's the first time Makie's ever said anything so direct about enjoying his company...kind of embarrassing.] Well- I mean, that makes me happy to hear. I'm glad I'm not just annoying you all the time.

[therewerefifty]

[She can be startlingly direct with people she's comfortable with. Don't get used to it, though. Makie smiles faintly at his flush, but she's not one for making things awkward for others if she can help it.]

I think I am very difficult to annoy. But those who enjoy music are always welcome, Sorey. [He can take that as a less personal out if he'd like. She enjoys his company because he's always cheerful and doesn't really judge her.]

[monolike]

[NO WAY, being shy has never stopped him before!!] Would it be all right if Mikleo came along? I think he'd want to hear it too, though he might just stay inside me if he's tired.

[therewerefifty]

Mikleo can...

[......um.]

Inside you?

[monolike]

Oh...! I'm sorry, I thought- I've told so many people that I forget who I've told. [Pats his chest] I have pacts with some spirits that are also in the Fleet, and they can hang out inside my soul whenever they want. So sometimes it's not just me in here. -oh but right now it is!

[therewerefifty]

[Well, she's not exactly shocked, given the nature of the Fleet. Still, it's interesting... and the disclaimer makes her smile, very faintly.]

Have you always been on your own in my company?

[monolike]

I... [Falters, just a touch.] I think so...

Sometimes when they're with me, they're just...resting, and not really paying attention. Sometimes I even almost forget they're there...

[therewerefifty]

[Good enough for her.]

Is it taxing, these pacts?

[monolike]

Taxing? [Sorey lowers his hand from where he'd scrubbed it anxiously into his hair.] Oh no, the opposite actually! Thanks to them I'm stronger, and I can feel the elements and I- I understand things so much better. I'm grateful for them, from the bottom of my heart. [Of course he'd gotten sick at first, but by the time Zaveid signed up with him he hardly even needed a nap afterwards.]

[therewerefifty]

And I suppose it means you'll always have company when you need it. [Though she wavers uncertainly on that, because maybe spiritual pacts don't exactly equate to friends.]

[monolike]

Yeah! [She gets it!!!!] Actually if I'm honest, I've gotten kind of used to always having company. Because so many people can see them here they spend a lot more time away from me, doing their own thing...sometimes it even gets a little lonely, hahaha.

[therewerefifty]

[People can't usually see them...?

That's probably not the point. She smiles a little.] They always come back to you, don't they? Everyone...needs some time on their own. As long as it's not always.

[monolike]

Y-yeah. I'm trying to give them their space...like I said, I just got used to them being with me all the time. [Sorey's also a little spoiled for attention, but he and Mikleo have talked about it, and Mikleo's been so sweet and staying with him so often.]

[therewerefifty]

How many of these friends do you have?

[She's just plainly curious now.]