Huntress Mingle!

[tempredmental]

Who: Huntress Crew and Visitors (so anyone)
Broadcast: Nope
Action: Around the Huntress
When: After Calibrations and Marsiva attack.

[GO FORTH AND MINGLE]

Comments

[tsunergy]

[For the first few days after they return from the Marsiva, Mikleo is completely MIA. He's not in his room, he's not on the Huntress at all, anywhere. Food is left out for Lucen, his leopard kitten, who is thankfully self-sufficient enough to last a few days without him, though he probably spends those days bothering everyone else for attention. There's a shuttle missing, though if anyone tried to investigate its whereabouts, it would be found on the Iskaulit easily enough. Mikleo, though? Gone. As if when Sorey and Zaveid disappeared from the ship, he vanished with them.

Eventually, though, as if nothing at all happened, he reappears and begins to make the rounds, examining the ship and whatever supplies might have survived their long absence, watering the little garden in engineering, checking on the pengyon (who is very disgruntled about being forgotten and has probably eaten all her eggs, if no one's been collecting them).

And then... he makes ice cream. A big batch of it. Most of it goes into the freezer (with a sign on the door for people to help themselves), and he takes a bowl of it into the lounge and curls up on the couch with a book, and just... sulks, and eats. Because he's seen enough of Sorey's dumb romance novels to know that's what you're supposed to do when you can't see your loved one anymore.

He doesn't know if it'll help, but he's going to try whatever he can.]

[the_tailor]

[While Lance is suffering from some of his own losses, he can't begin to think of what Mikleo is going through right now. If Keith had been the one to disappear--

No. Not thinking about that.

But it was clear as day that Sorey meant the universe to Mikleo. While the seraph takes time to himself (a glance to the roster list shows that he's still aboard the fleet, even if he won't show himself), Lance makes sure to take care of his pengyon while he's in there looking after Kaltenecker.

He makes a big batch of cookies to try and cheer people up. When Lance finally spots Mikleo out of his room, he heads over with the container.]

Room for another?

[tsunergy]

[Mikleo's gaze flits towards Lance, and while there is a moment of hesitation, he is in a public space for a reason rather than hiding out in his room or on the Iskaulit again. He can't isolate himself or he'll go insane... or malevolent, which would be worse.

So he nods, gesturing at whatever empty space is available.]

Sure.

[the_tailor]

[With that permission, Lance takes a seat next to him and makes himself comfortable. The box of baked goods is still full, and he holds it out to Mikleo for him to take some.]

I wasn't sure what your favorite flavor was, but I like to think chocolate chip is a pretty good medium for most people.

[tsunergy]

Chocolate's fine. Thank you... you didn't have to do this.

[The ship never seems to have a shortage of baked goods, that's for sure. The perks of having a daily supply of milk and eggs.

He accepts a couple of cookies and tucks his legs in under himself, setting aside his book so it doesn't end up with crumbs all over it.]

[the_tailor]

No, but I wanted to. 'least I can do for you.

[Lance is quiet for a little, letting Mikleo munch on some of those cookies, hopefully, before speaking.]

How're you holding up?

[tsunergy]

[Mikleo takes an extra few seconds to process the question, letting the cookie-nibbling be his excuse. It's a loaded question- he knows it, and he knows Lance knows it too.]

As well as can be expected, I suppose. It's... important that he's home. The world needs him more than I do.

[the_tailor]

I know it doesn't make it any easier. I can't...even imagine. And I know that I can't make it all better, but if you need someone to talk to, I'm here, okay? Or if you need anything at all.

[He hates seeing a friend in pain.]

[tsunergy]

I know. Thanks, but...

[He knows he should, it's just such a complicated situation. And he's in a better place than most people.]

I should have been preparing for this, even before he left. We're going to be separated for a long time.

text; a few days after the return to the ships

[abracafcku]

wtf mickey where the hell are you??? i kno ur like spooky invisible 99% of the time, but srsly we got work to do??? dont u dare literally ghost me

[tsunergy]

[continues to literally ghost him for a few more hours]

[abracafcku]

[Mmmmkay. No reply?

Fine. Let's do this. Taako cracks his knuckles and starts sending messages every twenty minutes or so.]

yo mickey copyright infringement!! im talkin 2 u!!

--

u better answer my texts or im gonna do some dumb shit

--

im going to dye your apron puce colored

--

i totally did that thing. holy fuck its ugly

--

okay no i changed it back bc jeezy creezy that was a bad color

--

its now tie-dyed and making my eyes want to bleed

--

yeah thats a perma-change whoops cant undo that one

--

MIKE DID U DIE I STG I WILL KILL U IF U DIED

--

nope checked with krav and not dead

--

so ur just being a turd good to know WHERE R U

--

i hate making ice cream why is this so hard 2 do

--

haha i made a snow dick outta ice cream
[A corrupted image file is attached and won't open]

--

shit did that not go thru?

--

[There are twelve texts of the same corrupted image in rapid fire, none of them will open.]

--

eh whatever i ate it so u missed out

--

srsly r u ded? ur legally obligated 2 tell me if u are

--

hellooooooooooooooooooo ghoooooooost booooooooooooooooy

--

hey?

--

did something happen??

--

what's goin on? r u ok????

--

Fuck it. I'm coming over in 10 minutes if you don't answer me and I'll tie-dye your entire room horrible shades so even in the Astral Plane you won't have any rest of this eye-searing rainbow horror.

Answer. Me. Mikleo.

[tsunergy]

[......

taako what the fuck

Mikleo stares down at his communicator as the last message (and the very clear threat) chimes its arrival, debating for a long moment if he ought to just continue ignoring it. But if Taako is actually going to bother coming over then not answering him will do very little good.

He... probably means well. Probably.]

I wasn't ignoring you intentionally. I turned my communicator off.

The Huntress lost people when we returned to the ships. I apologize for not messaging you about the restaurant.

[It's more formally written than how he normally speaks with Taako, but he's not about to delve into his misery over text. No thank you.]

[abracafcku]

[Okay, thank the gods, there's an answer. He was really not looking forward to having to get up and put on presentable clothes and prepare a speech about shirking responsibilities despite him always doing it and UGH it was so much work. But then his phone beeped and he was relieved to see the sender was, in fact, his errant boss/partner/employee, Mikleo himself.

Or, he was relieved, until he saw the uncharacteristically formal message and realized what this could mean. The Huntress was his ship and the people he lived with? ...Well, actually, Taako had no clue, but it wasn't difficult to look up the ship's roster and see a very conspicuously absent name.]

...Well fuck.

[It takes him a bit to compose the reply, but after a few minutes he shoots back:]

you want some booze? can u get drunk? fck it i'll bring booze

[And then a moment later:]

unless u wanna b alone. i get that

[tsunergy]

[Good thing this is text, because his gut reaction is a big NOPE. But that's... kind of rude, and he needs to stop isolating himself. And that was weirdly nice for Taako, so... maybe he ought to see where this rabbit hole goes.]

I've never been drunk.

I do have ice cream here, though.

non

non-phallic

[It's not a no...?]

[abracafcku]

then hold onto ur butt bc we're gettin u drunk af
best way to deal w/ this shit honestly
that and non-dick shaped ice cream even if thats honestly the best shape

b there in 20?

[tsunergy]

I'm sure I'll regret this, but sure.

I'll be in the Huntress lounge.

[Still kind of sulking with a book, but at least with a bin of ice cream chilling in an ice bucket nearby now.]

I'm so sorry...

[tempredmental]

[Keith had been doing his best to keep Kosmo away from Mikleo since he'd gotten the wolf from the wishing tree on that icy crystal planet, but a teleporting wolf could pretty much do what it wanted. There was a distinct sound that Mikleo may have heard before in passing, except, instead of just a random flash of light down a corridor or in a nearby room (that Keith would have explained at some point so Mikleo know what it was), the flash actually happened in the lounge with the Seraph... and resulted in the sudden appearance of a teenage size wolf.

Kosmo tilted his head at Mikleo for a moment, then slowly swished his tail back and forth in greeting.]

are you tho

[tsunergy]

[Mikleo's response is immediate: 1) he leans back into the couch as far as he can go, 2) he yelps, loudly and indignantly, 3) he swings an arm and sends a spout of water in the wolf's direction, and 4) he rolls back off the arm of the couch and completely vanishes from sight as an ethereal ripple of light passes over his body.

So, you know, that went great.]

no... not really...

[tempredmental]

[Keith heard the commotion from down the hall, having wondered where Kosmo had teleported off to, and now he knew.

Oh man...

Kosmo, to his credit, managed to remain relatively calm, only giving a small yelp in surprise when he got hit with the water. He started sniffing around the room, though, wondering where the other person had gone.]

Kosmo... what are you doing?

[Keith came in and put a hand on the wolf's back. Kosmo looked up at his person, twitching his ears. Keith frowned.]

Don't scare people.

[Keith also looked around, concerned. There had been someone in here. He considered it for a moment. No one else on board could teleport... at least, he didn't think so. And he only knew one person who could vanish like that.]

Sorry, Mikleo. He got away from me.

[tsunergy]

[The light in the corner shimmers, as the aquatic shield washes off like a wave of water, and Mikleo reappears.]

I... forgot he could do that. Why can he do that!?

[tempredmental]

[Keith crouched down, keeping Kosmo's attention on him once Mikleo reappeared.]

I don't know. He's a space wolf. He has different abilities than Earth wolves. It's the best answer I have. Coran called him a 'cosmic wolf'. So, maybe that's his particular breed or something.

[He shrugged.]

[tsunergy]

[Mikleo exhales a small, huffing sigh, reluctantly edging back towards his previous spot on the couch.]

Well... thank you for keeping an eye on him as much as you do, anyway.

[It's too much to expect perfection, especially when it comes to a teleporting dog.]

[tempredmental]

[Keith gave Mikleo a weak smile.]

I try. He's been reverted to a pup here, it seems, so he's a little hyper and hard to keep settled, but he'll grow out of it.

[Kosmo's ears perked up as Mikleo resettled on the couch. He was curious, but he was also very loyal to Keith, so he stayed put for now.]

[tsunergy]

Wait, he's usually bigger?

[OH LORDS HOW BIG DOES THAT THING GET]