driftfleet | Libuscha IV System Mingle (no. 1)

It certainly feels like going back, but I've been told my body was here the entire time in a coma. That is how these things usually work. You fall asleep and upon waking, remember more than you did before.

[The mechanics of it are troubling, Thor will admit that. He snorts derisively at the question then taps underneath his eyepatch.]

When I first came to the Fleet, I had both eyes and much longer hair. During the period of time I remembered, my hair was hacked off by a lunatic and my sister stabbed my eye out. It carried over when I woke up again. I have no explanation for how that works, but I would wager they're real memories because of that.

[That all comes off the cuff without much hesitation. It was never much of a struggle to recount what happened but even less so with the passage of a year in between.]

What the heck, my dude.

[Talk about a wild family vacay. She lifts a hand to gesture at her eye.]

I wondered about that- I thought it was just part of the pirate costume when we met, but obviously that's not the case. It's too bad we don't have a decent cleric around.

I am fairly certain that's why I was given that costume.

[Because bargain-basement humour is what the Atroma do best. Thor shakes his head, blowing out a sigh.]

Our healers looked at it as soon as they were able to, but there was no saving the eye. I wish they could have, of course, but I still have my life. I can't complain too much.

[More to the point: he won't complain about it. Relentless focusing on the positives is the way forward for Thor and always has been. To settle and dwell on his losses is too unappealing a prospect when he has much more to do.]

Clerics would be healers in your world, I take it?

You're a lot more gracious about it than I would be in your shoes.

[She appreciates his positive outlook on things, but after living so long without a body she gets twitchy about the idea of losing any part of it, so having a cleric around at this point would be awesome. Even Merle would be better than zilch.]

Healing spells aren't limited to clerics, but they're definitely the best at 'em. The really skilled ones can grow back body parts- like eyes, for example.

Well, I can't do much about vengeance, so it would be a waste of time thinking about that.

[Hela already paid that price, though it wasn't so much for Thor's eye as for the blood of their people. His eyebrows do go up in surprise to hear that Lup knows of healers with skills that advanced.]

Really? I've never seen anyone regrow body parts. That's quite powerful magic.

It's pretty powerful, yeah, one of the most powerful spells a cleric can cast, if I remember it right.

[She never studied clerical spells, but she's heard Merle fumble over limited spell slots enough times through the years to make certain assumptions.]

It's freaky to watch, though. Takes a few minutes from start to finish.

[For a moment, Thor tries to picture it. Someone regrowing his eye over a span of minutes. He screws up his nose slightly, his eyesocket itching just at the idea. Staying still while the healers had helped his slashed flesh back together in the aftermath had been uncomfortable enough.]

It doesn't sound appealing at all, no. But if the end result is getting back what you lost, anyone would put up with it.

[She can't quite help her giggle at his expression. Yeah, looks about right for a reaction to the mental image.]

You're not wrong there! I've seen it a few times, and it can look kind of nasty. Actually, I lost a foot once! Hoo boy, lemme tell you, it was tempting to just wait for the cycle to run out rather than grow a fresh one.

A foot! [He manages to sound impressed and dismayed all at once.] That's even more unfortunate.

[Thor blinks then, a more puzzled look coming over him.]

What cycle would that be?

Oh, yeah.

[Haven't talked about that one yet.]

I used to live on a ship that traveled sort of like how we do now, on a smaller scale, stuck in an annual cycle instead of whatever the Atroma decide to go by. Once a year we hit up a new planer system, got the lay of the land, had some sort of mission or project to keep ourselves occupied- and at the end of the year we could leave and move to the next one. Once we hit the new system we were "reset", kinda, to how we were when we started out. Injuries disappeared, anyone who died came back to life, nobody aged or changed... so yeah, losing a foot was a big inconvenience for a max of twelve months and then, bam! There it is again. Welcome back, foot.

[It still manages to surprise Thor sometimes what he hasn't heard about possibilities in other universes. For all that he's fallen through portals to other worlds, gone to a planet where time is out of sync with the rest of the universe, and witnessed the power of the Infinity Stones, he's never heard of 'planer systems'. At least not in the way Lup describes them, like worlds or realms.]

Huh. [He sounds intrigued.] Yes, I suppose that would fix your injuries. These planer systems were other worlds then, separate from your own. Being returned to your state a year earlier though... was that the intention?

[He thinks maybe not, given Lup said they were 'stuck'.]

[She snorts a laugh.]

Nah, that was more of an unplanned bonus on the side. Half our crew would probably have died of old age otherwise- and we'd definitely all be perma-dead without the revival side of things.

Wait... just how long were you on that journey?

[He knows Lup is an elf and presumably possessed of the same kind of longer lifespan, so for anyone to be in danger of dying of age means it was a significant amount of time.]

Just shy of a century. Felt a lot longer than that, sometimes.

[Eyebrows raised, Thor lets out a low whistle.]

That's a long time to be caught in a cycle... especially one that was dangerous enough for death to happen.

[The closest approximation he has is being stuck here for a hundred years - and that idea is one he quickly stomps on. That doesn't bear thinking about.]

Did you escape it?

We kinda did, yeah. At the very least we put it on hold for a while. [Not... ideal... but still technically and arguably better than the Hunger devouring everything.] But it's why I don't really balk at this place- it's just same shit, different day.

Another thing to escape from.

[He sounds wry as he says it. Lifting a shoulder in a shrug, Thor can understand that point of view even if he doesn't take it himself.]

Before I was here, I had been stuck on a world where time moved much slower there than elsewhere in the galaxy. I knew that even a day or so spent there would be days longer outside. My home was under attack at the time, so I knew I had to escape as fast as possible.

[It contributes, like many things, to Thor's constant restlessness with the place. With a huff, he folds his arms across his chest.]

And I know what they say about time not moving at home while we're in the Fleet. It doesn't change how it feels to be here, though.

[Wasting time on someone else's whims.]

Yeah, this is definitely a more, uh, helpless situation, in a few ways. The goals and the method of escape aren't as clearly outlined as it was my first time around- back then the hard part was how, not what.

[Get the light of creation? Sure, easy goal to understand. Maybe not easy to do, but at least they had a goalpost in sight. Get stronger? That one's easy to recognize, too. Beat the Hunger... well, they could see the goal, but beyond that...

...yeah, not so easy.]

It's not helpless. [He says that as certainly as someone would when declaring the sun would rise tomorrow.] We just haven't found the right help yes.

Hey, I'm not giving up or anything. As soon as shit gets started, you know I'll be deep in the thick of it. But we've gotta bide our time.

Absolutely.

[He hadn't truly thought Lup felt otherwise. Their first conversation had proven that much. But Thor's always ready to make the statement regardless. Some need to be reminded that they aren't doomed to be here forever.]

In the meantime though, what would you say to getting back to town?

I'd say that sounds fine with me, if you're ready to rejoin the party.

[She'd hate to rush him with her interruption if he's not okay with it, but it really is too gloomy and lonesome out here. Even if being stuck here isn't a reason to celebrate for him, brooding over it won't get him anywhere, either.]

Yeah, I'm done out here.

[The clouds have cleared off entirely, leaving just a starry sky to contend with. It's hard to be particularly mournful looking at that. And really, being distracted is the best way to manage it.

Thor cocks his head to the side and jerks his thumb towards town.]

Let's go.

Libuscha IV System Mingle (no. 1)

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