driftfleet | It's Party Time [ Open ]

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It's Party Time [ Open ]

Who: Jim Kirk & You!
Broadcast: Nope
Action: Yes, Planet-side @ Alloy Lake
When: Sometime in the evening

While it wasn't broadcasted, between how many people were told and the fact it wasn't exactly a private affair on a very public beach, anyone was welcome to come to this little shindig. Kirk's feelings were mostly that they all could use a break and a chance to relax together as friends, family, teammates, or any other word you chose to assign to the relationships you had on the Fleet. It was a nice break from working in projects too. It was nice to have something to occupy yourself in a creative and useful way, but it was always a good idea to take a break and refresh the brain now and then.

Which was how he came to the idea of a party on Alloy Lake.

He scouted a scrap of land near the water to set up on - beach towels, a cooler with drinks, a mocked up grill to cook some food. He went out later in the afternoon to start with more than enough light to enjoy some swimming, though it would be dark soon enough for certain members to join without being uncomfortable. At which point, a bonfire was built. What? A lack of sunlight is never a reason to stop partying! Especially not with such good company.

_{[ ooc: It's a party on the beach! Make your own starters and have some fun! There's drinks - alcoholic and non - food, a couple of games or make your own, a bonfire later in the night with of course means some kind of smore, swimming, and more. In terms of invite, you can assume you were directly told by Kirk, or told by someone else, or the grapevine. It's open to all, so don't worry to much about it. Have fun! ]}

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I meant more along the lines of "let's not be enemies for no reason because that's stupid and I don't want to", not like, you can't know anything about me ever… but fair point, I guess, buzz buzz static. Not gonna lie, I'd love to say fuck the voidfish's limits and see how to push 'em, because I'm a rebel like that.

[She huffs, a little exasperated, and rolls over to lay on her stomach in the sand to avoid messing up her fancy new hair, head pillowed on her arms. Stupid Fisher, stupid Fisher #2. How the hell did Barry do this for an entire decade? It's similarly frustrating as the helplessness she felt in the umbrella, though that was much worse.]

Wonder if yes/no stuff would still work.

[She says it half to herself. Or would the questions in his head be static themselves?]

Well, there's a reason, but like hell if I can be bothered to remember when we're on a different plane of existence.

[He can barely be bothered to remember when on his own plane. There are a lot of things that don't add up though, enough that make him suspicious of everything. Coming here, meeting her, it's all just added to his paranoia that he isn't being told everything. Not knowing could kill him one day and he is so not about that.

But since she offered?]

Are there two Voidfish?

[Figures he'd start with one she can't fully answer. She frowns, brows furrowed.]

Unconfirmed. Spooky Red Robe stalker thinks there is.

[She pauses for thought, as that one sounds really insufficient, and then adds-]

The voidfish you know says it has a baby, so I'm taking that as a yes.

[Of. Fucking. Course.

It was honestly the only answer he could have come up with after all the clues shoved in his face. The static shouldn't exist anymore and yet there it was clouding his thoughts whenever he looked too far back. It's annoying as fuck and he hates it. He's not even sure if he cares to know what was missing from his memory - he's gotten along just fine without it - but the principle of the thing just ruffles his feathers.]

...How do you know what the voidfish says? All I get is a bunch of humming and noises.

That's how it talks. The humming is music notes, each one a letter.

[She sits up, drawing a crude musical notation in the sand: the notes she'd heard through the umbrella months and months ago when the voidfish had first tried to get through to Magnus, when it and Johann had done that beautiful duet. Back then she hadn't known what it meant any more than they had, but between that and Magnus's confession after Wonderland, it makes so much more sense now.

She draws out the seven note song, humming each note as she goes, before spelling it out since she's fairly certain Taako's never had much interest in music theory.]

E-G-G B-A-B-E.

....?

[He sits up and looks at the musical notes, but they don't mean all that much to him. He's not a bard and while the music is pretty, it doesn't have a whole lot of meaning to him. He remembers hearing it before, Johann saying it was the first time the voidfish had ever sang back to anyone or showed any sort of animation beyond hunger. It was when Magnus had put his hand to the glass and--

What? The? Fuck?

He freezes, looking at the musical notes in the sand and is suddenly acutely aware of how close she is. She's used most of her higher level slots though, so maybe he's safe?]

Were you in the room? How the hell do you know its song?

[A part of her wants to tell him. A part of her is screaming to just come clean at last, explain what she knows and what she's witnessed through him, through the umbrella. To tell him that she's been at his side all this time, trying to protect him.

But then there's Kravitz, and her unprovoked attack.

Then there's the Red Robe stuff.

Then there's the fact that the Umbra Staff only swallows the dead.

The fact that he'd found it next to a corpse.

There's... a lot.

So instead she sighs, quietly, and dusts the loose sand off of her finger, looking back at the water.]

Taako... where do you think the voidfish came from? Why do you think it's erased the relics, and people like me?

[She's not sure if that's a good enough answer - or an answer at all - but he's smart. There are certain pieces that he can put together without her saying it. This way she doesn't have to lie.]

[It's from somewhere not here -- there. Faerun. It's not from Faerun. It's some weird space fish that eats memories and information and it's kind of cute in its own gelatinous way. Magnus likes it so that's good enough for Taako.

As for why? It's because the Director fed the information to it. Or Johann, but Johann isn't exactly a criminal mastermind. He's more like a stoned garage band musician waiting for his big break that will unfortunately never come because he feeds all his best work to a giant jellyfish. Kind of a non-starter as far as careers go.]

I dunno? Somewhere? Don't tell me you're like some weird voidfish hybrid and you birthed it because that? Is TMI and gross. Mostly gross? I don't want to think about how underneath that face is a jellyfish face. Gross, Lup. Super gross.

[She's hoping her expression in response to that says it all, because her expression is very, very clearly "no, no, no, NO, NO GROSS ICK NO". She actually leans away from him, as if he's embodying the very concept of breeding with Fisher.]

Mmmmkay that's gonna be a no, and also, yuck. But I have met the voidfish before. I think I can tell you that much.

[He gives a cartoonishly large shrug and bites his lip to stop from laughing at her expression. He had to ask, Lup. It was his first conclusion and he has no brain to mouth filter.]

So this egg babe song is just a thing it does?

[He laughs finally, unable to hold it in.]

Magnus is going to be so sad. He thought he was special.

[She opens her mouth. Shuts it. Rethinks her choice of words, carefully.]

He still could be. The squishy fella liked to play favourites, sometimes.

[Magnus, Lucretia... it never loved the rest of them the way it loved those two. Not that they'd put near as much effort into caring for it- her priorities had been very different that year, and after that she'd been too focused on the mission, their research, everything else but a magical jellyfish that, to her (at the time), just really liked art.]

Big guy could probably befriend a wall, to be fair.

[The tension was thinning - still there, but lighter than before. The prickles of fear were still raising the hairs on the back of his neck, but it's a level he can deal with.

He flops back onto the beach and splays his arms out over his head. He's quiet for a moment and then lets out a loud sigh.]

So there's a second voidfish out there. It's eaten all the information about you and, for some reason, a lot of other pretty important shit to me. Which? Rude. But someone had to feed that info to it, so was it you or someone else?

[Oh thank god, that one's easier.]

Someone else. And if you could Zone of Truth me on that one, I'd let you.

[He can only take or leave her at her word on it, since Merle isn't here, but the same goes for any question he asks her, so whatevs.]

[The next question is on the top of his tongue. Who? Who stole parts of his life away? He knows who would feed information of the Red Robes to the voidfish, but his life?

How could she do that? She never knew him until he showed up with the Gauntlet with the other two boneheads and started working for her. How could she know what to pull out of his life to put all that static in its place?

He closes his eyes and drapes an arm over them.]

Figured. [He lets out a raspberry at nothing in particular.] Fucking rude.

You said you aren't trying to kill me, so there's that. Can't ask you about us because that's all shrrkkk shrkkk shrkk. [...And he doesn't want to know who fed his life to the voidfish. He's alone here. He doesn't know if he could deal with that on his own.]

So..............................

[He pops his lips as he thinks. There's so many things that fit into place, but when he looks at the completed puzzle, it's just gray. A big gray sheet of nothingness even though he knows what the picture should be.

Annoying.]

Did you know they have these blue things here named after me? It's weird as fuck, but they're pretty delicious.

[She says nothing to his first comment. Yeah, agreed. And knowing the why and the how doesn't make it feel any better, so she's kind of glad he didn't ask who. She doesn't know how to dismantle Lucretia's betrayal in a way that he might understand; it'll only bring up more questions she can't answer. Getting him to doubt the good ol' BoB will probably just come across as self-serving, anyway.

Every time she thinks she might be able to get them there, it just gets harder. Gods dammit.

Aaaand then he mentions the food and it completely derails her train of thought, for better or worse, so... good job?]

You- what? A blue food named after you? That's news to me.

Mmhm. I'm thinking of suing for them taking my IP, but when I do it, it won't be blue so it'll be better.

[He still has his arm over his eyes, using it as a shield against the uncomfortable knot in his stomach. He wants off this topic. He wants away from the possibility of an unhappy truth staring him directly in the face, even with his eyes closed. It's right there, glaring bright and garish, and all his walls can't keep it away.

So he just turns in a different direction. It's easier this way.]

Crunchy corn shell, spiced ground meat, some vegetables - sour cream and cheese. [He knew some of those things, but the shell was a new idea.]

Gonna need time to reproduce it and make it better, but yeah. Straight up named it after me even this far out in the universe.

[She can tell, by his body language, that they've dug deeply enough at the voidfish issue for one day. Little by little, they get closer, but she knows not to push it. The food conversation is an easy distraction, and she grabs on with both hands.]

I'm not so sure I can picture that as your namesake... maybe you have to experience it for it to make sense.

[It does sound tasty, at least, and some of those ingredient combinations are weirdly familiar. She can't quite place it, though. The crunchy shell bit is definitely new, but something about it... gods, that's gonna bug her.]

Now that you've brought it up, you know that you have to take me there later, right? There's no way you're allowed to leave me hanging.

[He could, or he could wait until he makes his own. It's going to take awhile though. He has to figure out how the shell is made, what the ingredients are, the spices that go into it, the best combination of toppings. Alien vegetables were great and all for creativity points, but when it comes to meshing that with the baby of an idea in his head, it's a little harder.

Taako hems and haws, making a great scene of coming to a decision. He keeps her waiting for no other reason than he can, and the tension fizzling out of the air is a welcome reprieve.]

I mean, I could, but you'd have to promise not to take it either. That recipe should be mine by all rights. It's my namesake.

Y'know, I'm gonna go ahead and say it doesn't sound like it should be called "lups", either. If I'm gonna have a foody namesake, I think it ought to be more like...

[She lifts her hands together, forming a circle with her fingers. You know?]

Maybe some kind of alien fruit cup. Fruit lups. Something colourful and juicy.

[He hears her shift and lifts his elbow so he can peek out at her jut in time to see her holding her hands in a circle.

Fruit.

Lups.

Fruit lups.

There's a brief pause as he stares at her. Then a quiet "heh" escapes. He bites his lip, and then snorts. Soon enough, he's full on laughing, rolling on his side.]

Fruit Lups - the Juicy Fruit!

[She grins, leaning in as he laughs.]

The taste is gonna move ya!

[Yep, they definitely needed this distraction. Thank goodness.]

[He giggles unfettered by whatever concerns he had just a moment ago. He prefers this - no thinking about all the weirdness between them. Because? He's loathe to admit it, but he likes her. Might not trust her, but he likes her a lot. She's got humor and style and can kick the shit out of things that come at him, and has saved his ass at least once today. She can be a real pain in the ass, but it's all in good fun.]

No no, the taste is outta this world!

Ooh, not bad, not bad. It might even... throw you for a lup!

[What's more fun than fretting about lost memories? Thinking up dumb slogans for theoretical meals. She wishes she could be that free, sometimes- to just shrug it off and forget it all.]

Niiiiiice.

[He sits up, holding a hand up for a high five with a grin.]

Well if you're going with Fruit Lups, then I guess it's safe to show you what I got brewing.

[She high-fives him without hesitation, keeping her hand up afterwards and resting the other over her heart, taking a mock-pledge position.]

I solemnly swear not to steal your shit.

It's Party Time [ Open ]

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