|
|
Post by Rebecca Ranger on Jun 30, 2010 7:09:30 GMT -6
Watching Klove slide to the floor Becca followed suit so that they were facing one another, their backs to their respective bunks. She watched Klove shuffle the cards with facination. They moved so quickly and lightly that they seemed to dance in his hands.
She took her half of the deck when it was given to her and turned to Klove as he explained the game. It seemed fairly easy, but also once again eerily, frustratingly familiar. Becca couldn’t quite remember what aces and jokers were, but the way Klove talked about it like it was obvious stopped her from asking. She turned over her top card, a four, with strange shapes made of three circles each and a line on the bottom. Clubs. The word came into her mind out of nowhere. The four of clubs. “I guess those are yours then.” Rebecca had lost a lot of memories, but she was still forever grateful that she’d at least retained her basic mathematics skills.
|
|
|
|
Post by Klove Makem on Jun 30, 2010 22:12:14 GMT -6
"Yup." Klove took the pair, setting it by his right knee and dealing out another card. Six of spades. "We just keep this up until we blow through our decks. Like I said, it's a pretty simple game, but it's a good place to start. The deck's got four suits; hearts, diamonds, spades-" He motioned to the card lying down, "And clubs, which you just played."
"There was a human on here about two years ago that brought his own deck, and it had completely different suits. They were... bells, roses, acorns and shields." It took Klove a moment to remember, but he smiled to himself as they came back. Franz had been pretty awesome. It was really a shame when he left the ship. "He said the deck was a family heirloom, from back before Terra was one big city. I haven't seen anything like it since then."
|
|
|
|
Post by Rebecca Ranger on Jul 3, 2010 16:04:51 GMT -6
She nodded as Klove explained the rest of the game, pulling another card from the top of her deck and setting it next to his. It was the seven of… that must be the suit of hearts. “Yay!” She cried with exaggerated enthusiasm, taking the two cards and setting them off to the side as she’d seen Klove do.
Then she was listening to Klove’s story again. “Wow.” She murmured when he had finished, “That’s a long time to hand something down. He’s lucky to have something like that in his family. Something that tells him about his ancestors, helps him remember them.” How she wished she could remember anything, anyone from her past. It didn’t have to be an ancestor or a relative, it didn’t even have to be a person. Just… something. She took another card from her deck and put it down. The three of hearts.
|
|
|
|
Post by Klove Makem on Jul 4, 2010 20:53:26 GMT -6
Klove snorted at Rebecca's over the top yell, flipping over another car. Eight of clubs. He took the pair and put down the nine of hearts. So far it looked like it was going to be good traveling with Rebecca. She seemed to have a sense of humor, which was essential when you were stuck in space for long periods of time. Humourless people tended to be the ones who would eventually snap and carve everybody up like a turkey dinner.
"Yeah." He agreed, thinking of his own family, and the empty space where heirlooms and heritage should have been. Instead, all he had was an old scar, and nightmares that never got any easier. Rebecca had a similar look. She could have been old enough to have been part of the first contact disaster. But it wasn't like Klove to bring it up. Plenty of people eventually figured out that his parents had died a long time ago, or else they seemed to think he'd just run away as a teenager. It wasn't something they really need to know the truth about. The truth was... painful.
"We had an elf on board once. That was weird. He doesn't need to be told about his ancestors. He can just meet them in person." Klove grinned a bit, "That always seemed weird to me. I can't image being a thousand years old. I'd be so bored all the time."
|
|
|
|
Post by Rebecca Ranger on Jul 6, 2010 19:02:43 GMT -6
From what she’d experienced so far, Rebecca wouldn’t have called herself particularly empathic. Yet even she could tell that whatever Klove was thinking about didn’t make him happy. Maybe he was remembering something unhappy. Sam had always said she was luck not to have memories, that they were torturous and distracting.
Becca respectfully disagreed. Relief washed over her as she watched Klove’s face clear. But she had to really think about what he said next. Finally she shook her head. “I think immortality would be nice. You’d never have to worry about wasting time.” She laid down another card. The seven of diamonds. Becca pushed the pair over to Klove and put down the jack of spades. Wait. How had she known the J stood for jack? Bec sighed. This thing was going to drive her crazy her whole life.
|
|
|
|
Post by Klove Makem on Jul 7, 2010 0:30:38 GMT -6
"Life's nothing but short exciting moments, and then long boring stretches of nothing. The last thing I want is eight-hundred more years of long boring stretches so I can have a few extra exciting moments." Klove said, with all the informed thoughtfulness of a teenage boy. And with the prejudices of someone who had joined up living nearby vampires. Even if he wasn't completely aware of it, he associated vampires and immortality, and with it, the cruelty and malice that came with the bloodsuckers. "I figure, if you can't get what you want done in forty or fifty years, you're probably never going to get it done."
He took the pair, flipped over the ace of spades, and pushed the next pair to Rebecca. The next card on the deck was the two of spades. Hopefully this was just coincidence. If not, then Klove was in for a hurting with a bunch of low-number spade cards. "I mean, unless what you want to do is something kinda ridiculous. Like build a pyramid, or something similar."
|
|
|
|
Post by Rebecca Ranger on Jul 13, 2010 22:25:49 GMT -6
Not to sure exactly what a pyramid was, Becca simply nodded, laying down the eight of diamonds and taking the two cards. Her next card was the three of clubs. “Life doesn’t have to be boring if you don’t want it to.” She added as she turned it over.
“Or at least, the boring parts don’t have to be so long. You don’t have to let them be. As long as you have a goal and you keep going toward it, you’ll keep having new experiences as you go around chasing what you want.” For example, she thought, I’m chasing my memories. “And someday it might feel nice to having nothing to do. To just sit around and relax.”
|
|
|
|
Post by Klove Makem on Jul 14, 2010 19:41:59 GMT -6
"You're going to have plenty of sitting around and relaxing between jobs." Klove told her, grinning a little. Rebecca was going to get so much that she would probably end up sick of sitting around. Klove always did. At least Grace kept them working, even when they didn't really need to be. It was nice to have a vacation every now and again, but having something to do, even if that thing was dangerous, was better than nothing.
He was about to lie down his next card when he heard the sound of the ship's gangway coming up. Klove perked up, "Hey, sounds like we're going to be rolling soon. If you want to watch the take-off, there's a porthole in that bunk." He pointed to one of the empty ones, against the outside of the ship. It was one of the few portholes around the ship. "There used to be a bunch more, but Grace had most of them filled in and welded over. We've never had any of them break, but why take a chance right?" Apparently, on old saucers, it was one of the design flaws that had made the ship incredibly unpopular. That, and the hairtrigger controls, and the underpowered engines.
|
|
|
|
Post by Rebecca Ranger on Jul 17, 2010 10:57:13 GMT -6
“Well, I admit, right now sitting around is definitely not top on my list of prorities. I’ve already done enough of it lately. It feels as if I’ve just spent my whole life sitting around.” She wished she could tell Klove just how literally that last sentence was meant.
But the next moment she forgot about that. “We’re taking off? Really? Yeah, of course I want to watch!” She jumped up from her spot and ran to where Klove had pointed, positioning herself eagerly at the porthole. She knew she was acting like a little girl, but she didn’t care. Besides, if memories made a person, then she was a little girl. A very, very, little girl indeed. “How long does it take?” She called over her shoulder.
|
|
|
|
Post by Klove Makem on Jul 20, 2010 13:29:54 GMT -6
It was funny how excited Rebecca was. Most mercs got tired of taking off after a while. But then again, maybe the ships Rebecca had served on were the kinds that didn't have any outside windows or screens. They were safer, but Klove felt like that was missing the point of having a spaceship.
"A minute or two for Grace to finish her pre-flight checks. And then we'll slip out of the dock and get rolling." He walked over and stood beside the bunk. Rebecca's head was in the way, but he could still see around her. It wouldn't be too long. Grace had this down to an art. Klove still needed about five minutes for his pre-check, but he was a bit more paranoid than Grace when flying. It was one thing if she crashed her own ship, but something completely different if he did. "Normally we'd have to wait on the tower to give us the go-ahead, but we're technically a light spacecraft, so we can just go whenever."
The rumble of the engine started under their feet as Grace finished up the check and got things moving. Klove got a grip on the side of the bunk, just in case. "You should hold on. Grace sometimes forgets that not everybody's strapped down in this place." It was half a joke, but half serious. The ship started to lift, and a sharp jerk to the right made Klove's point for him.
|
|
|
|
Post by Rebecca Ranger on Jul 20, 2010 19:50:48 GMT -6
“That’s all?” Becca had expected the take off to be longer. She nodded as Klove spoke, but she wasn’t really listening. She was watching the world go by outside the window. The world she would soon be leaving. And suddenly Rebecca felt frightened. An emotion she hadn’t been anticipating at all.
She was leaving behind everything and everyone she knew. Even if that wasn’t saying much, Becca knew she was entering an entirely knew world. And she was terribly excited and terribly fearful at exactly the same time, for exactly the same reasons. Out there, she didn’t know anything about anything at all. She would never know what was happening, unless she figured it out for herself or asked. And she could ask too much, or she’d be discovered. Becca had already discovered she wasn’t any good at figuring things out.
In other words, she was jumping into a black pit without a rope or net, freefalling down into something completely unknown. It was at once terribly wonderful and wonderfully terrible.
The ships engine starting made her jump. Then it made her laugh. She didn’t really hear what Klove said next, but then she was thrown backwards onto the bunk, barely missing hitting her head on the bunk above. Becca was laughing again as she picked herself up and resumed her position.
|
|
|
|
Post by Klove Makem on Aug 1, 2010 22:32:44 GMT -6
"We've been prepping to leave for a while now. It really saves time if you do the big stuff ahead of time." Klove assured her, hoping that Rebecca wasn't too nervous. For a moment, it looked like she was a bit scared, but Klove couldn't tell if that was because of the ship, or something else. Whatever it was, it passed, and was replaced by excitement. Klove smiled at that. He knew that sort of excitement pretty well.
When she pitched back, Klove nearly reached for her. But Rebecca was fine, laughing it off and getting back up. "See what I mean? Just keep a hold on until we're out of the atmosphere!" Klove just kept his grip on the sides, hoping Grace didn't make it a sharp trip up. It didn't exactly give the new crewmates confidence when the first ride was a bumpy one.
But Grace smoothed it out, and there weren't any more sharp turns or jerks, just steady acceleration upwards as the Queen found a gap and went for it. Outside, Terra revealed more and more of herself as the ship rose up and above the tallest towers. Klove smiled as they flew up through a bank of clouds. Terra was pretty, in a weird sort of way, but Klove was always glad to be going again. There were plenty of other awesome planets to see, and most of them had the open space that Klove loved.
It would be nice to have another were around, at least, another werecat. Maybe when she felt more comfortable, Klove could talk her into going for a run with him. Heimdall was hot as hell, but great for running, and there were plenty of tasty wildlife to snack on.
|
|
|
|
Post by Rebecca Ranger on Aug 9, 2010 7:42:04 GMT -6
Becca nodded, reaching above her head to hold on to one of the metal slats on the underside of the bunk above her. The rest of the ride seemed fairly smooth, but that wasn’t really what Becca was noticing anyway.
The surface of Terra was falling away below her. From her perch, it seemed that rather than her leaving the planet, Terra itself was leaving her, shrinking, getting smaller and smaller by the minute. Terror rose up I her again, mixed with an equal measure of giddy excitement, and for a moment Becca felt rather sick. Then the feeling passed and she sighed gently. Freedom. But what was she free from? And what had she escaped to?
|
|
