case 001

[balancetheblood]

Who: Lucky, and YOU!
Broadcast: Fleetwide
Action: the Marsiva
When: at least a few hours before shuffle

[ When the video begins, whoever is using the communication station is standing, so you can only see their midsection (an amethyst-purple sweater under a black-and-amethyst plaid flannel shirt).

The owner of said sweater mutters to herself for a moment. ] Can't tell if it's working even with something in my brain telling me how it works...

[ There's another moment, the person moving, and then she finally sits down, revealing a woman with an unnaturally-angular (for a human, which she's clearly not) face, pale fog-grey eyes, and sharply pointed ears (though not as dramatically pointed as the sin'dorei on the fleet). Also a floppy knit hat, in the same shade of purple as her shirts. Man, what's up with this lady and purple, right?

She purses her lips and raises an eyebrow. ]

I don't suppose I'd be lucky enough to just be separated from the other Amethysts in some game in the Ring?

Yeah. Didn't think so. I'm Lucky, can anyone tell me if there's anyone from a place called Aather here?

[ Whether "Lucky" is her name or just a statement is unclear from her tone. ]

Comments

Audio;

[justamobster]

[ Ladon has a way of looking through the network during his downtime. It's the best way to keep updated on what's happening on the fleet, whether that's people asking questions or making statements, or new folks showing up and expressing confusion about their surroundings. He engages when he feels the need.

So here he is, in the pilot seat on the bridge of the Tourist, going through the latest transmissions. All he sees is purple, and he's about to pass over it when he hears the person say something.

Wait.

Wait, is that...

Then the video finally pans up to her face, and he feels the wind knocked out of his lungs. He hasn't seen her without her glamour much but... well, it's impossible for him to not recognize Toby. He's spent too much time trying not to think about her to manage that. He doesn't know where all this purple came from, or what the Ring is or Aather or anything like that. But he knows one thing. That's Toby.

And it's going to break his heart all over again if she doesn't remember.

He clears his throat. It takes him a few moments to find words. ]

Don't sound that lucky t'me, doll.

video;

[balancetheblood]

[ She doesn't bother to switch off the video, she's only just gotten it working, and she's not going to risk fucking it up now. So Ladon's privy to her little wry smile at his comment. ]

Yeah, well, I never said it wasn't an ironic...

[ she trails off, because wait.

Wait.

She knows that voice. She absolutely knows that voice, but it can't be him, and her face is quickly shifting from wry and a little snarky to shocked. Uncertain.

And, despite the fact that she knows it'll be quite the explanation owed if she's right... a little hopeful. ]

...Ladon?

Audio; --> Video;

[justamobster]

[ It's only the fact that he's still on the audio setting that prevents him from showing how absolutely floored he is the moment she says his name.

It's her. It's fucking her. He didn't think he'd ever see her again. He knew he wouldn't. He was getting over it, finally, and now...

Now this. He half-expects that any moment he's going to wake up on the floor of the shuttle where he's been sleeping, reeling from a dream that was just a little too vivid.

But that doesn't happen. And after a long silence, he finally switches his device to video, though he avoids actually looking at the screen. He's too overwhelmed to look her in the eye. ]

Yeah, s'me. How you been, Tobes?

Video;

[balancetheblood]

[ Lucky covers her mouth with one hand, but it doesn't entirely hide the startled smile that's spreading across her face.

She laughs shakily ]

"Tobes", that's one I haven't heard in...

[ She shakes her head and lets out a deep breath ]

It's been a while. I think. Well, I mean, I know it's been a while, I was in Aather for more than a year, but-- I'm not sure about before that.

[justamobster]

Few years, I think. Dunno for sure, don't remember much since...

[ Since she left and he fell apart. He not sure if he has the distance or perspective on it that he feels like he should have, thanks to his memory being a haze. He'd gotten good at pretending he did, but that's all starting to shake loose now. ]

Only been here a month, though. Er, meanin' the fleet. Space again, yeah? S'always gotta be space.

[ The whole playful kidding around thing doesn't work so well when he can't manage a genuine smile, but he gives it a brief attempt anyway. ]

[balancetheblood]

Well, it wouldn't be like old times if it wasn't space.

[ This is just bizarre. And amazing. She kind of... never expected to see anyone from her past, ever. And now here's one of the people she felt strongest about? Her memories of Ladon were emotional and intense and here he is.

Her sincerity when she speaks again might be a bit unnerving for Ladon, given how unguarded it is. She'll explain why she's different, she promises, but... ]

It's really good to see you again, boss.

[justamobster]

[ That makes him laugh a little, mirthlessly. Finally he looks at the video feed, and when she says it's good to see him and calls him "boss," that disarms him just enough that the small pull downward of his lips betrays that he really, really wants to say it back. He does. But he's still hurting way too much.

Instead he rubs at his mouth as if that was some physical tick rather than an emotional one. ] Last thing I ever expected, yeah? The hell's been goin' on, Toby? What's an Aather?

[balancetheblood]

It's... hard to explain.

[ Somehow it's easier with people who've just arrived. At least they're experiencing it, you know? ]

I was brought to a world called Aather, to... help fight something they called the Darkness. It was trying to devour the world, and had found paths to other worlds through people, so we were brought there to not only keep our worlds safe, but help defeat it once and for all.

[ She hesitates, looks down with a slight twist of her lips ]

Thing is, in order for it all to work, they had to strip us of our memories, initially. We could get them back, as time went on, a little bit at a time, but... [ a short laugh ] It's so weird, no one's called me Toby in... well, since I got there.

[justamobster]

[ So she didn't go home. All this time, all this time he's been beating himself up over not feeling happy for her, for selfishly wanting her to come back, because he thought she was finally home with her people. And even that wasn't real.

For the first time he's debating giving the punching bag in the rec room a few jabs. He doesn't know whether to be more angry at himself or at these... fucked up circumstances they've found themselves in.

He should feel blessed that she remembers him at all. ]

How much d'you remember?

video

[normallycharmed]

[ If there's one thing she wasn't expecting, it was this. When the video turns on the other woman isn't wearing Amethyst purple anymore-- and for good reason, you're lucky to miss goth days, Lucky-- but she's definitely still wearing the familiar gemstone carved key.

Your not alone, at least, but it's not like... You know each other at all. But still-- Amethyst. ]

If this is a game it's the longest one I've ever been in.

video

[balancetheblood]

[ She doesn't recognize the woman, but she recognizes that key. That makes her one of Lucky's, as far as the other woman's concerned. ]

Well, at least that's some confirmation. How long is long?

[ she pulls her own key out from under her sweater and smiles a little crookedly ] I'm Lucky. My name's Lucky, I mean. What realm were you in before you ended up here?

Re: video

[normallycharmed]

[ She might not feel exactly the same since Amethyst was kind of strained with her, but it's nice to feel familiarity to something? More so then half the things here. And it's not like she disliked Amethyst, so there's that. ]

Ah, probably about a... month now. The longest I spent in a game was a couple of days, so, you know.

[ The purple was more than enough confirmation for her, since she knew part of that uniform. But puling back hair a bit. ] Missed the theme, did you? ...I went by Peregrine, but it's Piper. As for that, it was the tail-end of Camelot-- the Black Woods.

video

[balancetheblood]

[ Lucky huffs a bit, laughing ]

Didn't so much have a theme when I got there. I was in Wonderland, and the beginning of Camelot. Left to spend some time with Duckling, came back to the Black Woods. Must've come back after you left.

Gotta say, though - the longest I think I was ever in a game was a few hours, so you definitely have me beat.

Re: video

[normallycharmed]

Sounds like we probably both just missed each other. It's probably been a while, anyway. A lot of the team had left near the end, so I don't now who's left you'd probably know.

[ She snorts, wincing slightly. ] You should count yourself lucky for that one.

video

[balancetheblood]

Not many. Night, Jill. She went off on a quest not long ago, though, so. [ slight shrug ] The new kids weren't bad, though. Still young. Was Kitten there yet when you were there? Uh, sorry, Starlit?

[ ah. THAT kind of game. Lucky grimaces. ] Yeah, I think I will.

Re: video

[normallycharmed]

Nah, I know Night. And Jill-- she goes by Dawn, too. Corvus, Lyra, Luna, Eclipse, Starling, Orion, Watchtower... Solstice I kept trading places with. They'd been there a while.

[ Which means they're all gone now, why. ]

video

[balancetheblood]

[ Lucky nods ]

I knew Solstice. He was there still for a little while after I got back, but...

[ she sighs ]

It seemed like we lost a lot of people to the Book in short order.

video;

[detectivewonder]

Is that... a uniform?

video;

[balancetheblood]

[ She has never met the owner of that face in person, but she certainly recognizes it from the little tree that sat on the table in Amethyst's living area. She looks a little surprised. ]

...Eclipse?

video;

[detectivewonder]

It is a uniform.

Tell me about Eclipse. You're not the first person to mistake me for him.

video;

[balancetheblood]

[ That wasn't the response she expected, and it shows ]

Oh, I can't-- I don't know much about him, I never got a chance to meet him. I just thought I recognized you from the picture we had.

video;

[detectivewonder]

This was in 'Aather?'

[it's clear he doesn't know quite how to pronounce the word]

video;

[balancetheblood]

Aather. Yes. I was off with Duckling when he was on Amethyst, he was gone by the time I got back.

[ Wait, that sounds weird to someone not used to the Personae, doesn't it? ]

...Long story.

video;

[detectivewonder]

Amethyst. Your team; and that's why the purple?

And he must look pretty exactly like me.

[He used to hang out with someone called Beast Boy; he doesn't ask questions about names.]

video;

[balancetheblood]

Yeah, that's why the purple. Everyone had clothes in their team color.

[ She fiddles with the edges of the flannel shirt, smiling a little. Seems mostly like she's smiling at something in her head than his question - and she is. She used to hate this shade of purple, now look at her glad she got to keep it and didn't end up in whatever the clothes around here are. ]

From what I could see? Yeah, pretty much. But if you don't remember Aather, you're not him, so. [ she shrugs a bit ]