Mingle - Emergency Potluck

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WELCOME POTLUCK

Greetings, residents! Those more observant sorts among you may have noticed a large influx of very crowded ferries. In order to welcome our new residents en masse, Town Hall is holding a potluck in Town Square. Please bring a dish if you are able and make a new friend!

All of our newest arrivals need only bring themselves. We look forward to welcoming you all into our community, and may your lanterns always be lit.

This event is open to all! In light of our new influx of prospective players following the Great Sail Migration, we've decided to offer a small public event to tide everyone over until the TDM this weekend.

Comments

"Slasher Face" Jean | Project Moon | Existing Player | OTA

[restingslasherface]

Fresh Fish!

There's a short little fella around the place who has brought sushi and, in fact, may have brought that sushi directly to you. They're dressed quite piratically, complete with a saber strapped to their hip and a frankly quite excellent hat, but instead of a parrot there's a baby chicken on their shoulder that stares at people like it wants to Fight Them. A little nametag pinned to their chest (where do they keep getting these office supplies) pronounces them Agent Jean.

Even Fresher Fish

When not carrying around a tray of sushi, Jean can be spotted eating (they have a habit of Making Sandwiches which is being unleashed on the bread rolls) and trying to chat people up. Many of the local residents seem known to them; Jean calls these people by name, and you might overhear discussions of recent battles against 'star creatures', in which Jean compliments the skill and bravery of the resident in question. They are trying their best to project being Available For Conversation but boy is this pointy-toothed little bastard not good at it.

[astrogator]

As Erin approaches her, Tayrey's eyes widen, and she glances over towards her planned escape route. Erin, she is fairly sure, will have disapproved of all her actions, and if she hadn't done anything back on the ship, it could have been from lack of opportunity. Her bodyguards had been very attentive.

Tayrey considered Erin a friend - a friend by contract, at that. But Siffleur had been a friend too, solid written contract in place, and in the end he had- no, she is not going to think about that. She is alive, she is free, she has chosen to be here.

So Tayrey doesn't bolt, even if it takes some effort to repress the urge. She's not a contract-breaker, after all, and that means she recognises her own twitchy trauma response and Erin gets the benefit of the doubt. The kind gesture is seen for what it is. 'Peace and prosperity,' she echoes, staring at the plate. 'Probability really did smile on me.' That's pronounced carefully. It's not only the food. Being here at all is overwhelming, in more than one way.

'It's- do you want to share it?' Tayrey asks. She shifts over, pulls out the chair next to her, an invitation for the weary-looking Erin to join her.

[crushed_pearls]

"The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak." Erin flashes a wan grin. "But if it's too much like a favor for ya, I can shake you down later for help planning braille lessons. Back to not reading again, shit sucks."

"...Lost track of you after that announcement, Tayrey. Vanished myself not long after too. Let me tell you, the void between worlds ain't as scenic as L-Space."

Father Mulcahy | M*A*S*H w/CRAU | OTA

[lovethyneighb_or]

“Oh, my.”

Air. Space. Food. Grass, and trees, and birds hung in the branches, it’s…

… he finds it hard to believe. Between the Captain’s illusory worlds and Number 2’s liberal application of hallucinogens, he’s… it’s almost too good to be true, isn’t it? Even if he is dead; even if this place is faltering, it’s still a living place. He hasn’t heard birdsong in… in many years.

And look.

Company. Food. There’s some strays from the recent voyage here, like him, although he finds himself hesitant to talk to both the locals and the passengers he seems to have arrived with. A hand goes to his chest, in the spot where his silver crucifix should be. At least he’s settled in enough to have put in for a new pair of glasses.

Mulcahy hovers at the square’s edge, picking at his plate while he observes the ongoing mingle, everyone recognizing one another and no one to recognize him.

It’s a lovely party.

[crushed_pearls]

"Nah, that's the terms and conditions." Erin shrugs, sighs. "...I don't wanna get into the whole sordid affair at a party. Let's leave it at this: nothing that passes the Glass Gates comes back the same."

[restingslasherface]

Agent Charlie deigns to permit this. Jean beams brightly at the selection, their mouth full of triangular teeth that fit just a bit too well together. "Not solely my work, comrade! The sailors aboard Mipha's Grace and the seaweed farmers that I employ put in the work every day. Speaking of!" They temporarily set the tray down so they can bow to Fever with one arm crossed over their chest. "Agent Jean, First Mate of Mipha's Grace under Captain Zelda. It's nice to meet you!"

VIBRATION.

[restingslasherface]

Behold, Father! There's a little shark-toothed dude - Korean, possibly? The resemblance is uncanny - that is offering forth a tray of sushi and Vibrating. There's a baby chicken on their shoulder giving you the sort of staredown one normally gets from Russian mobsters. "Welcome, comrade, welcome! Can I offer you the catch of the day?"

They really just vibrate like that huh? The tray is steady as stone, somehow, while the rest of them is attempting to escape Samsara by sheer speed.

[astrogator]

She nods eagerly. 'Lesson planning. Or I can put texts into Braille for you, in the meantime. Fair contract.' Something of an overly generous contract, in return for a plate of food, but Tayrey's not in the right frame of mind for negotiation games. Not after what she's just learned. She accepts the plate, setting it in front of her.

'I am... so sorry,' she says in a low voice, 'that we weren't quick enough to spare you that.' Tayrey's terror of the Nothing is no secret, and she decides at once that Erin has suffered far worse than she has. It brings out her protective instincts, and it makes her reframe her own suffering. Her next words, then, are brisk.

'I can't fill you in on much. I miscalculated. Turns out there were a lot of people who liked their captivity more than they liked the idea of taking a risk for freedom. Convinced no good could come of it. Some wanted me dead. Not always the ones I'd expect, either. It got... very rough for a while, I had to go into hiding, and I guess I died of the injuries. Or at least, one moment I'm drifting off to sleep courtesy of the best painkillers on the ship, safely guarded, and the next I wake up being offered that choice. To die or live here. Puncturing a hole in our captor's bubble universe must have broken his hold on us.' Pure speculation, but it seems logical to her.

[crushed_pearls]

"One tends to find out after fucking around. 'm sorry you suffered, but I'm not surprised; that's life under siege." Erin hangs her head and sighs. "...Got most of the way here following my Wyrd, trying to aim at the people I'm connected to. Seems like I hit the mark, though I needed help at the end. And now we're here, with like, an actual local culture. And I'm thinking you're gonna need help with that, if you want it."

[astrogator]

Fucking around? Not surprised?!

This was a mistake. This was a terrible mistake. No, it's not just life. Civilised people don't behave that way.

Captive Tayrey, broken Tayrey, might have started pleading her case here. How hard she'd worked for freedom, what miracles she'd accomplished. How that animal had literally pinned her down and tried to tear off her face for the crime of wanting more out of life than that imprisonment. The long days and longer nights of agony that followed. She might have practically begged for an understanding that wasn't ever going to come her way.

Now she's not desperate, just frustrated. Angry, even. But this is a new beginning in a new place. She doesn't have to react. She doesn't have to care about other people's judgements at all. Her expression goes blank, dutiful Tradeline Tayrey revealing nothing of her feelings.

'Thank you for the offer, but I'm sure I'll manage fine on my own,' she says neutrally. 'I've been here two days and I have a job and a few trade contacts.' She doesn't waste time! 'This is my liberation and I'm making the best of it, Erin.'

[crushed_pearls]

"Mmhm. And if your neighbor brings you a housewarming gift, you do what?"

Erin turns her head to look at Tayrey, and her expression is gentle. Patient. Her ears swivel in the Tradeliner's direction, attentive.

[astrogator]

She wants to laugh. It puts her in mind of Savitskaya's questioning, years ago. You fly in-system after a rocky outward transition and there's a signal light in the distance, you do what?

Now, as then, Tayrey's answer is immediate.

'Decline it. Calmly and politely, with the explanation that gifts are not allowable in my culture, and an assurance that my house is warm and they needn't worry.'

[magistrixcaligo]

"Taking an interest in architecture, sir?"

The lass who has sidled up is dressed impeccably, in a sharp white suit and a black-and-gold face mask. She's older - thirty? Thirty-ish? - and distinctly Amused, pairing her words with a gesture at the town using her walking cane. Her other hand has a glass of whiskey in it, neat, which she offers to Edgar. "Deirdre Breugaire, charmed I'm sure. This glut of new arrivals has had my Marina in a frenzy."

[crushed_pearls]

Erin does laugh, soft and distant, and shakes her head. "Congratulations, you've deeply insulted your hypothetical neighbor. There's a saying on Earth - when in Rome, do as Romans do. Like most sayings it's pithy and overly simplistic, but it's more what one might call a reminder anyway."

"...You're still my friend, Tayrey. I didn't come here to argue about what happened on the ship, hell, we don't need to bring it up ever again. That shit fucking sucked and I know I'm gonna be dealing with it for..."

"...ever, probably. I came over because I figure somebody ought to have your back. I wanna see you prosper, y'know? I really think you could here."

[astrogator]

She still wears that careful, neutral expression.

'If my neighbor is insulted by me following the basic rule of fair contract and explaining it is a cultural difference then we were never going to be good neighbors. I've heard this advice before, Erin. Conform. Assimilate. Stop being who you are and valuing what you value. But I'm a Tradeliner. That evil djinn couldn't take that away from me, nor could the torturers in the village, and my friends won't do it either. I'm a Tradeliner on my ship, on every planet, every station - even in your Rome. That won't change. You might as well have brought me a plate of meat and told me eat up, it's what everyone else does.'

She looks at Erin directly now, intensely. 'I intend to prosper here. But I'll do it as myself, living by my Code, regardless of what anyone else thinks of it or of me. I'll stay here as long as I must, and then someday I'll get home.'

Tayrey's not going to talk about what happened on the ship because she doesn't trust herself to, doesn't trust herself not to crumble and break down if anyone so much as hints that they think she deserved any of those horrors. There are walls that need rebuilding first. Someday she'll be strong again.

[crushed_pearls]

"I know you will," comes the soft murmur. "I ain't trying to take anything from you. Y'know...you're a very inquisitive person, Tayrey, but sometimes it feels like you think trying to understand other people is gonna hurt you somehow. Makes it rough when I'm busting ass trying to understand you. Seen you do this before, shut me out, decide on your own that I don't get it. Lemme show you a trick."

Erin cracks her neck and switches from Emeran, the local language everyone here is currently speaking, to English, which was spoken on the ship: "Peace and prosperity, Lieutenant."

And then she repeats it in Japanese. French. Swahili. Spanish. German. Cantonese.

[cacophonish]

...okay, maybe he should've left that can of worms in peace.

"Oh."

...

.........

"Right on."

What else can one say to learning about his alternate self's sex life?

...

Moving on!

"So, ah..." Clearing his throat now. "What's with the wings?" Fuck. Jeff's face falls, but it's not like she can see his regret, what with the blindfold and all. "Sorry. Was that a dick question? I just mean-- I haven't met a chick with wings before, or-- um, well, I guess I've met a dude with wings, but he's a giant bird--" He casts a glance around, hoping Cerrit isn't nearby to overhear, and adds in a conspiratorial whisper, "--and a fucking cop."

[crushed_pearls]

"Oh Christ, bird cops, they don't need helicopters." Erin makes a Face. "But it's a long fuckin' story, so let me give you the short version. Sometimes, fairies kidnap people, and turn them into other kinds of people." She flexes her wings; Erin seems to spot something, because she scowls at them. "Christ my feathers are fucked...but, yeah. I'm human, but it's a 'terms and conditions apply' kind of human."

[astrogator]

Tayrey cracks a smile.

'Peace and prosperity.' That's Emeran. And then Tayrey repeats it in Japanese - she didn't spend that long around Nobunaga and not pick up that much. Again, in Sector Standard. In Company Standard, same language family, different in the details. In Siduri'in. In Čiprijan. Then, finally, with spacer hand signals, hands brought together as if cradling something precious, then spread outward in abundance.

A moment later, back to Emeran, soberly. 'You're right that I don't think you'll get it. About the ship - because we've discussed that enough times, it's an irreconcilable clash of values and priorities and I'm not... I'm not saying you can't have yours. I'm respecting yours, by not talking about it. By not going on about what it's like to have everything I worked for reduced in your mind to fucking around, because it's your right to have that opinion. I've just gotta step back and let you have that freedom, Erin. It's alright. But I don't want to talk about it. It's all too painful.'

She sighs. 'The rest... what I'm reading is you telling me there's something wrong with my beliefs about gifts and fair contract. Not just that you don't share them, but that you're suggesting I ought to abandon them to- to fit in. If that's not what you were signalling, not the conclusion I was meant to draw from that, then I'll hear correction.'

[crushed_pearls]

"...In a moment. Got something to put on the table here - you know, that's the first time I've heard any of the languages from the Tradelines? They're beautiful." Erin leans back in her chair, tilts her head to the sky. "One of the many, many indignities of the ship was taking people's mother tongue from them. I lucked out, English is mine, but you, Ruby, Darcy, hell even Nobunaga got robbed, and that's. Awful. Legitimately bad for people to go through."

"It'd be my honor to learn yours, if you care to trade for the lessons. I'm not the fastest student of language, but consider me highly motivated."

[ablativeholopleather]

Wayne glances around with a bite halfway into his mouth, making a small sound and tucking the food into his cheek.

"Song from home," he replies simply.

[hate_gettin_older]

"Been thinking about getting a job," he says, and it's still so strange to him that he can just say that. "What kind have you got?"

[hate_gettin_older]

He gives her a look of blank uncertainty.

"... Artecture?" he asks, in the tone of somebody who doesn't recognize the word at all.

[umm_shafaqat]

She takes in that short answer and says, "If my question is unwelcome, I ask your forgiveness instead. The song caught my interest."

Very formal way of speaking, from a woman with a very reserved expression. And Wayne may have noticed, she hasn't met his eyes once, letting her gaze wander.

Draw your own conclusions...

[somebodychildofanyone]

"Y'know Mister Max, whoever said not to trust a skinny chef seems to have not accounted for all of this."

River, meet dramatic irony. Dramatic irony, meet River. She has no idea that this is Erik's Max, the one she's heard so much about; he certainly doesn't fit the image of a deeply hurt slave, not like the poor bastards she helped liberate in the Dungeon did. So here she is, to tease, and to flirt, and to CAT WHAP CAT WHAP CAT WHAP CAT WHAP CAT WHAP -