Queue me up, I'm the twelve on your table

[lord_wizard]

Who: Starstruck crew and visitors!
Broadcast: Not unless you want to
Action: SS Starstruck
When: Second half of April?

[The Starstruck is kind of in tatters these days, and that's not just the ship we're talking about. The repairs are going slowly and it seems half the crew is ready to kill each other. Or something.

Whether you're a part of the crew, visiting, or here to help with the pile of repairs, step lightly!]

Comments

[mysterzie]

[ Aaron's doing marginally better lately. He recovers as time goes on, an actual and visible effect when all that's changed is something internal. Perhaps he's taken in more powers than he should to settle his craving for more, but he doesn't really care right now. Three is plenty, three is amazing.

Three is annoying when only one of them really works at any given time.

Right now he's in the remains of the kitchen standing over a large bowl of water. His hands are poised over it, making this motion and that while the water follows his whims. He hasn't quite gotten it floating or making forms yet but this is another way to let himself recuperate: focusing on the very powers his body is assimilating. ]

C'mon... C'mon, you stupid water! Just fucking—follow along! Why is this so hard?

[ Because you don't know kung fu, Aaron. ]

BACKDATED to that after the "ino" post

[twocomplex]

[He's heard a lot of yelling on this ship from day one, but today was particularly noisy. It's not until after the last bout of shouting, when silence passes for five minutes, that he dares to step into the cargo bay.

He's seen the whole crew in passing, of course, but that was different from full on meeting them. And so who was this one again...?]

Is everything alright in here? I've heard quite a lot of yelling.

[mysterzie]

[ It's after the shit with Mattias. Of course it is. They're always loud, they never get along, yet somehow they keep talking to each other. It's... not quite fulfilling but it's something to do and the fact they haven't killed each other yet probably speaks volumes for how good they are with following through on being jackasses.

Aaron whips around and raises an arm to point, to yell, to do something—but it's the one person on the ship he's hardly seen around and the words catch in his throat along with a host of other things tripping him up from such a small, unexpected happening. That moment of gawking turns into a glare. ]

No, it's not. Get out.

[twocomplex]

[Whoa there. He raises both hands defensively and stops in place, not approaching any closer, but not exactly attempting to move out, either. This is everyone's ship, buddy, calm down.]

If everything is not alright, as a crew member, I can't help but feel responsibility. [His hands lower, slowly, when the point has been made.]

I don't believe we've formally met, either. My name is Oren.

[mysterzie]

[ No, he will not calm down!! Aaron gives an odd, off-balance look for the comment about responsibility and then shakes his head strong and quick. ]

That's not how this crew works, idiot. There's nothing you can do, anyway!

[twocomplex]

That may be mostly true...

[He dares a step forward, but it's small, relaxed, and he turns to look down at the floor. He's casual about all of this, really, the yelling not seeming to do much to bother him. He's too interested for that.]

But I can listen. Or provide a distraction, perhaps.

[mysterzie]

[ His eyes narrow, and he straightens for all of a minute before he shifts back to his rather more comfortable stance of PARANOIA. ]

Do you have any powers? That'd be a distraction.

[twocomplex]

[...That's a very pointed question. He pauses for just a second before laughing, kicking lightly at the floor as he takes a step back. It's just idle fidgeting in place, no real movement closer or further away.]

Unfortunately, no. [He lies smoothly enough, shrugging.] Though I've had many compliments that made me feel as such.

[It's a joke.]

Are "powers" normal for you?

[mysterzie]

They're as normal as having eyes.

[ For all the aggravation, exaggeration and gesticulation... he's not actually far off from the truth here. It's so scarily rare to not have a power where he's from that it's just as strange and frightening to be surrounded by so many people without. ]

[lord_wizard]

[Felix's coming and coming from the Starstruck has become somewhat catlike in habit during the time on the station. Sometimes he stays out late, sometimes he stays in for days, and sometimes he doesn't come back at all (once he discovers he has old friends to visit).

He does, at least, often come back with things the ship needs, and most of which he usually deposits on a table somewhere for either his shipmates or visiting engineers to deal with. Felix tends is indifferent about Aaron, tends to avoid Oren, but often goes looking Mattias once he's on board, if only to check in before bed]

[noctiphile]

[He'll find him on his knees, scrubbing at the floor. The bucket beside him is a dark, muddy red, and there's a arrangement of elegant robes—the ones he was wearing on arrival—draped over his station. Some are pierced through, the edges around the hole frayed, some of them are pristine, if not for a speck of blood. Mattias himself is working at one of the last bloodstains, wringing the sponge out when Felix eventually strides into the room.]

Felix. I figured you out for the day. You've come back? [He speaks pleasantly enough but there's some metal to his voice and something cold to his gaze. He makes no effort to hide the blood.] Did something happen?

[lord_wizard]

[He can't even answer at first. It's difficult to decide what about this seems the most wrong, though he's almost more taken aback by the cold tone that implies Mattias was angry at him than he is at the blood staining the floor.]

I beg your pardon, but shouldn't I the one be asking that question?

[He gestures at the bucket, wondering with a strange distant chill who it all belongs to.]

[noctiphile]

[Wishful thinking, hoping he would let the subject pass. Mattias sighs, straightening and wringing out the sponge.]

Oren and I had an argument. [He lets the sponge drop into the water, his hands falling to his thighs.] Neither of us took it well. It turned into a scuffle, Oren lost, and now I'm cleaning up his blood.

[He claps his hands on his thighs and stands up.] There's no need to worry. Both of us are fine. I took him to the healers.

[lord_wizard]

[Does he feel relieved that Oren isn't dead or that Mattias didn't do something so outrageous as kill the other man?

No...no reason to worry? [Mattias obfuscates a lot and Felix knows it, but it takes a particular amount of denial to stand over a bucket of blood and say everything is fine] Even dismissing the fact that at least one of you drew blood during a fight, what happened to the ruse? Is this how you convince him you aren't suspicious of his motives? The pair of you seemed to have been fairly friendly lately, the last I saw. Where did that go wrong?

[And that's the note that's driving the anger now. They'd agreed on the lie for Mattias' sake but it not only proved difficult to hate the other man on principle, but their closeness ate at him when he was alone]

[noctiphile]

[It's all too fresh for him not to snap. He turns to Felix with a faint snarl.]

He figured it out, Felix! He's not an idiot [he gestures vaguely with a hand] and he's known me three months longer than you.

[With that last statement, he settles, gaze dropping to the bucket full of blood.] I told him what happened. He asked and I—I couldn't lie. Not any longer.

[He says it as if ashamed, crouching back down to squeeze out the sponge.]

[lord_wizard]

[The brief surge of aggression makes him blink, but his own anger rises up to meet it. His lips thin and hands clench, his arms crossing]

Oh, for certain, but neither did you have to be quite so transparent.

[He wants to grab Mattias. Shake him. Make him take notice of his situation]

Presumably he'll come back to the ship at some point, and what then? You told me he was dangerous, or was it you I should have worried about?

[noctiphile]

[It's unfair. It's not right. In the end, what did Felix know about him? How could he know how hard he was restraining himself, taming his tongue? His anger?

A furnace boils his chest and it's all he can do to remember how to breathe, knuckles whitening around the sponge. When he finally speaks, it's with a chuckle.]

Yes, it might just be me. [What did he know? How could he understand?] Is that what you want me to say? [He laughs now, face cracking as he gestures towards the door.] Yes, he'll come through that door and he'll be scared of me. [His face falls to its previous hardness.] That he'll be so frightened he won't do anything. Is that what you want to hear?

I'm not proud of what I did, Felix. I'm not proud of this! I—[What could he know? How could he understand? Mattias chokes on his own words, settling once again.]—I don't know how to handle this, Felix. I don't know how to handle the dead returning, so forgive me if I made a few mistakes!

[lord_wizard]

[After talking to Mattias, all Felix can do it wait for Oren to recover and come back to the ship. He has no doubt that he will, though the vain hope persists that the prince will save them both the confrontation.

He isn't entirely sure what he means to say. The brief flashes of himself telling Oren simply to get out and never come back are tempting but ultimately rejected in the name of diplomacy and not hurting Mattias any more than necessary by association.

But something needs to be said. Silence would only poison the air more in the long run.]

[twocomplex]

[ Oren wasn't aware of how much Felix was involved in this. He only knew that his pleasantries were irritating, and despite them, the lack of contact spoke for how little he cared for Oren in return. Right now, as he enters the ship, he looks completely healthy. Not even a black eye to remember the fight by-- but his face shows he's in no mood for conversation.

Their shoulders might brush as Oren tries to pass wordlessly, but it's faint, not aggressive. He's lost in his thoughts.

But he's not leaving this ship. ]

[lord_wizard]

[He doesn't let Oren get far before he speaks, his voice obviously measured into something with the weight of steel. It doesn't sound as angry as he might be otherwise, though how long that lasts remains to be seem.]

We need to talk.

[twocomplex]

[The words make him stop in place, and there's something clearly tense in the air. Still, when he turns it's with a saccharine smile.]

Oh, do we? Your silence lately has had me under different impressions, my dear Felix.

[It's a familiar speech quirk if he pays attention. Otherwise, he probably just sounds like a dick in general.]

[lord_wizard]

[It's an easy quirk to pick up on when Felix is a master at it himself, and turns the exact same same on Oren in return]

Has it? At the time I had other things to occupy my time, darling, and you and Mattias were busy reconnecting I thought it best to allow you the opportunity. But given the abrupt conclusion of that fiction the other day, I'm not obligated to turn a blind eye any longer.

[twocomplex]

Fiction?

[He laughs, and as unhinged as it is, it's clear he's not knocked back by those words. He doesn't even bother to turn more completely to face Felix. He lifts a hand for some grand, rolling gestures that essentially brush off every word he's spoken so far.]

You're sorely mistaken, my friend. Perhaps in your future, occasional talks when Mattias is desperate enough, you'll see that there is not a time when I leave his mind.

[He drops the hand, at least turning his gaze more completely.] Now, I'm quite busy. What is it that you want?

[lord_wizard]

[Felix isn't much for physical confrontation because he's usually aware of where he stands in that department, but the temptation to grab Oren by the shoulder and shove him against a wall has a momentary appeal]

I'm more aware that you think. The question is, do you care for him as much as he does you?

[twocomplex]

[His thumbs slide under the waistband of his pants and he rocks back on his heels in a motion that's far too innocent. The look he gives Felix is far more telling.]

That's a rather personal question isn't it?

[He stays grounded in place, shrugging his shoulders slightly.]

If you must know, I'm not sure that any amount of care could equate with Mattias' towards me.