Event | Satellite | Salvage & Repairs

[ironwood]

Characters: Any and all!
Date: May 22 - 26, 2013
Location: Keeliai, turtleside, ARSHEPHELIOS cluster remains
Situation: The fires are put out and repairs around the city have begun. With life preserved, eyes turn now to what exactly crashed down into the ocean.
Warnings/Rating: Please put CW in your subject lines

Satellite Crash Event

Crash Landing | Salvage Party | Shocking Spectres

Questions | Keeliai | Repairs | Salvage | Other | Oceanside | Shellside | ARSHEPHELIOS-side | Coralside


The majority of fires are reported as under control and repair crews start forming up to bring Keeliai back to her pre-scorched splendour. This is all well and good, but there remains a cluster of debris that crashed into the ocean drawing the attention of salvagers and Foreigners alike. Boats and teams form up and head up to scour the ocean, where the cluster rests upon an expansive and ancient coral formation and can be reached within ten metres of the surface.

Comments

[usavatar]

You're loved. [Just in case that needed clarification. He examines his cup before holding it out.] And trusted.

[depicted]

You are definitely not yet drunk enough. [Dorian takes the cup and refills it. Go get drunk so you can stop having feelings!

Wait, that's not how it usually works...]

[usavatar]

Because I'm being honest? [He's undoubtedly amused, levels of intoxication aside.] Here: You're loved, and trusted, and I'm glad to know you. You... make it easier to feel less lonely when I'm with people. You're capable of kindness you don't let yourself show, because you've had a hundred years of thinking the only true self you have is that portrait. You don't have to live down to it, is what I'm trying to say. Live up to yourself.

[depicted]

[it's not like Dorian isn't used to being praised. It's sort of something he gets a lot. And people have been wrong about him, often, and praised his kindness and his goodness. But somehow, when Steve does it, it's just different.

So he drinks.] Enough of the Dorian Gray analysis; you can save that for your term paper. What about you? You aren't quite yourself right now, are you?

[usavatar]

[Well fine if you're just going to call him on it. He dips into his cup.] No. I'm drunk.

[depicted]

Don't try to con a better con, Steve. You were acting a little strange before we got down here.

[usavatar]

I'm not trying to con you. [The fight, such as it is, dwindles as he eyes his reflection wobbling in the cup. He sets it down very gently on the floor between his knees and rests his head against the wall, looking up at the roof of shell where it's beginning to glow.] I didn't think I was being obvious.

[depicted]

[Dorian leans back again, watching Steve.] You weren't. I just have experience.

[He isn't going to push Steve into talking. But he's going to give him the opportunity.]

[usavatar]

[He taps his cup against the floor, listening to the oddness of the sound. There's nothing that makes a noise quite like the turtle's shell, he's found - no metal or wood or stone.]

Did you know Stephanie Brown?

[depicted]

[Steve doesn't have to say it. Dorian instantly understands.] We went out for drinks once. She seemed like a good kid.

[usavatar]

She's the best. [A tiny smile, and he remembers the last time he got well and truly drunk - and how Steph found him then, when they only knew each other a little.] Smart, fast, tough - she could make you think she was fearless, no matter how scared she felt. And the way she cares about people.

[He almost takes another drink, but sets the cup down again instead.] I would have taken her back with us, if we could figure out how to do it. I would have done it in a heartbeat. The world she came from didn't deserve her. Doesn't. But I've got no choice but to hope that's where she is.

[depicted]

[Dorian listens to the description, the tense shifts. Present, past. Present, past. It's the eulogy of a man who hasn't finished grieving.] I hope so, too.

[usavatar]

Peggy... [A small noise that's on the same spectrum as laughter.] We never told her we're engaged. Didn't have the chance. She probably could have taken Bucky in a throw-down for best man, but dollars to donuts, Peggy would have chosen her for maid of honor. She's family.

[He closes his eyes to keep tears away, and to keep himself from seeing Dorian witness this particular moment of weakness.] I shouldn't want to be used to losing family.

[depicted]

[The eyes shut. How children suffer.

Dorian laughs, not cruelly or with mirth. It's just experienced.] You will, though. For the rest of your endless life. Don't let should get in the way of what you feel. Wanting to avoid pain is as much a part of grieving as the pain itself.

[Dorian stops then, glances down. Perhaps he didn't say the most supportive thing in the world just now.] Just . . . don't try not to get used to it. That's all.

[usavatar]

[Right now, he can't imagine being used to it. Right now he doesn't imagine he ever could be.

And he's twisting knives he forgot were there. How could he forget? The laugh, the declaration that follows... How many families has Dorian Gray lost in the course of his endless life?]

She would flirt with Peggy constantly. Me too, but I got used to it. Peggy - she'd play right along. [He rubs the corner of one eye.] Once, I walked into the middle of them trying to outdo each other and Steph - [It's a good thing he's already flushed.] She made us an offer. I don't know what she would have done if we actually... [A sigh that's both fond and exasperated.] She likes doing that. Putting people off-balance.

[depicted]

[This time, Dorian is laughing for real.]

So it wasn't just me. The first time she met, she started talking to me about the FBI finding pornography on her computer. I had no idea what to do with that.

[usavatar]

That's Steph. [He sips at his cup.] She kissed Rikki and Bucky - he's Rikki's grandfather, sort of. And I asked her if she was going to try kissing Peggy and get the whole set, since she's Rikki's grandmother. Sort of.

[He huffs in amusement.] Other universes. Anyway, she wasn't put off by the idea at all. Asked me if Peggy would say yes.

[depicted]

[Now that's a family tree. Dorian rests his head on a hand as he smiles.] Would she?

[usavatar]

[He laughs.] You'd have to ask her.

[Steve smiles at the ceiling.] On the cheek, maybe. [A moment's pause before he asks:] How's Toby doing?

[depicted]

Well, as it happens. [He laughs a little.] He's so disappointed that his sunburn has healed.

[usavatar]

[His smile widens into a grin.] From the mainland? He liked what happened when we went ashore?

[depicted]

He did, the embarrassing idiot. I had a bloody five o'clock shadow to contend with, and he was enjoying himself.

[Of course, Dorian sounds very happy about that himself. But seeing Toby genuinely happy is kind of a prize for him.]

[usavatar]

[Snicker.] How many years has it been since you had to shave?

[depicted]

Oh, shove off. [He would hit Steve, but Steve is all the way over there.] It isn't fair if I have to do the things I sold my soul to avoid doing.

[usavatar]

[He smooths a hand over his mouth, trying not to laugh.] I read something that called it... oh, what was it.

[Too much innocence. Too much.] Designer stubble. That's what it was. Isn't that a good thing?