( stargazing )

[honestypolice]

the stargazing meme

oo1. comment with your characters
make sure to put names, series, & preferences somewhere!
you can use < ! > sans the spaces to make the comment "blank"
oo2. reply to others in character
oo3. use the rng and enter 1-10
oo4. play out what happens—anything goes!
oo5. profit? oh yeah!

prompts

one → meteor shower you just saw a falling star! and another! make a wish!
two → aliens what was that? was that really? omg no way a ufo!
three → lunar eclipse you've been sitting out for hours, waiting for this. it's so cool!
four → comet does it move fast or slow? either way, it's amazing.
five → full moon the moon is so huge! just don't look too long, it's really bright too.
six → star dust anything can happen in space. make up your own plot!
seven → solar eclipse this might be happening in the middle of the day!
eight → planet sighting is that a new star? nope, just a neighbor in the solar system!
nine → constellations do you know the stories behind these odd patterns?
ten → deep space normal stargazing isn't that much fun. you got a telescope!

Comments

Captain Jack Harkness | Torchwood | Open to anything

[captainhardness]

Nine!

[damselled]

[Maribelle, at last, had a rare moment's peace. The day had been long, the march had been hard, and she was fairly cetain she was in danger of split ends. But it was over, for now, and the young woman stood silently now, gazing up at the ever-glorious night sky, and speaking to no one in particular.]

My word, the sky certainly is lovely tonight. I do believe I've never seen so many stars!

[captainhardness]

[Meanwhile, Jack had just been sitting there, lazily perched on a nearby rock, just staring at the sky himself. Moments like that didn't happen often, but, well, quiet solitude was nice every once in a while. Though he didn't mind company, either. The woman who came by didn't seem to be talking to him--in fact, she made no indication she'd even noticed he was there--so he made his presence known.]

Nice, isn't it?

[damselled]

[Maribelle started ever so slightly at that, not having realized she wasn't alone. She eyed the stranger with suspicion - he certainly wasn't a Shepherd, and she definitely had never seen him before. Nevertheless, he didn't appear to be an immediate threat, and so she softened a bit.]

Why, yes. How very providential to see such glory on this night.

[captainhardness]

Well, I wouldn't go that far. [He couldn't quite help picking on the over the top wording a little bit.]

Captain Jack Harkness, [he introduced himself with a charming smile and an interested glance] and you are?

[damselled]

I would. Surely you know of the war that's going on?

Charmed, I'm sure. I am Maribelle, daughter of the Duke of Themis. [And here, she gives a graceful curtsey, inclining her head slightly.]

[captainhardness]

Very pleased to meet you, Maribelle. [He would bow, but he's sitting on a rock, which makes formal gestures a bit difficult. She gets a nod, instead. And of course the usual flirty tone in his voice is there, should she choose to notice. He glances back up at the sky.]

The stars are always there, war or not. [He looks to her again.] I'm guessing you don't get to look at them much.

[damselled]

[well, it's better than a belch. Maribelle sighs, the long-suffering sigh of someone who is well used to horribly impolite rabble, and misses the flirting. No one has ever done so before, after all, save Virion, and he's always much more blatant.]

Perhaps they feel as woefully neglected as those beneath them, in such a sorry state. [she doesn't respond to the last remark, making the answer obvious.]

[captainhardness]

[He shrugs off the frustration. She's obviously not too offended by his lack of completely proper manners. And he notices how she doesn't respond to the flirting, which is either a polite brush-off or cluelessness. Either way, he's not inclined to push it.]

I wonder. [His gaze goes back to the sky, his expression a little wistful. Another time, and he might have something else to say to that, but she caught him in a philosophical mood. He doesn't think the stars have any particular opinion, but the rest of that statement, he can sympathise with. The suffering that goes along with a war is something he understands all too well.]

[damselled]

[It's simply cluelessness, of course. She's unused to anyone so much as daring to take a flirtatious tone with her - at least not a perfect stranger.]

Perhaps they are free from such strife. One can only hope. [She continues to gaze upward, lost in thought.]

[captainhardness]

[Jack would dare to do many things most people wouldn't, but of course she doesn't know that. Yet, anyway.]

If it helps, I don't think the stars think or feel much of anything.

[Not at all like the people who look up at them.]

[damselled]

[No. No, she doesn't. And besides, the only person who had dared anything of that sort with her was Virion, and as he dared that with every woman who crossed his path, Maribelle had paid him no mind.]

Perhaps they do, Captain, and we merely lack the means to communicate with them. [Hers was a world of gods and magic, after all, and stranger things had happened.]

[captainhardness]

[As Jack did with every everyone who crossed his path, more or less, so even if she'd noticed, she'd probably soon learn to ignore it from him, too.]

[He laughed a little.] Perhaps they do, [he repeated back. It would sound mocking, except it clearly wasn't. Knowing, at least in broad strokes, the science behind a star, her suggestion did sound a little ridiculous. But it was a nice thought. And who knew? Maybe she was even right. Stranger things had happened.]

[damselled]

[She wonders. She's made friends with flowers and, naturally, her horse, so it doesn't seem wholly implausible to her in the least that the stars could watch those beneath them and be able to sympathize and understand.]

If I may ask, what brings you to such a dangerous area alone? It's not precisely safe to travel by oneself at night. [Naturally, she isn't alone; the army camp isn't terribly far off, and she'd told Lissa where she was going. But she can take care of herself, and she's uncertain as to whether this stranger can.]

[captainhardness]

I go a lot of places. [Far more than she can imagine, since he doubts she's ever met a time traveler before.] Danger doesn't bother me.

[damselled]

Is that so? [Maribelle's suspicious, but she's interested]

And what manner of places, pray tell, do you go, that danger holds no trouble for you?

[captainhardness]

Oh, I don't know. [He smirks, and nods toward the sky.] Some of those stars, maybe.

[Said in that way that makes people think he's joking, even when he very much isn't. She won't believe him. It's one thing to speculate that the stars theoretically might be sentient. It's another to believe someone's been out in space when it's impossible. And he knows it.]

[damselled]

[She frowns at that, not believing him. In fact, she wonders if he's insulting her.]

Is that any way to answer a lady whose acquaintance you have only just met? [honestly, this rabble and their disrespect. Why does she bother?]

[captainhardness]

[He laughs a little, almost as if there's some joke only he understands.]

I guess not. [He didn't mean any offense, and that comes across even if he's not exactly apologetic.]

I came from a long way away. [That's probably more palatable than quips about the stars, and no less true.] There wasn't anything special that brought me here. I just don't really have anywhere I belong anymore.

[He did, once, but that was a long time ago, now.]

[damselled]

[Honestly, these ruffians! Why, it's all Maribelle can do to have a pleasant conversation. She takes a deep, long-suffering breath, prepared to tell Jack off for his insolence.

And then she hears the rest of it, and the anger leaves her completely. There's something so sad in his eyes that she can't help but tentatively reach out and pat him on the hand - before quickly withdrawing it, of course. There's been enough breach of protocol for this night, thank you.]

You poor thing. I can't imagine how that must feel.

[captainhardness]

[The touch surprises him, and his eyes widen briefly before that gives way to a smile. That sadness is still there in his eyes, though, and he sighs slightly.]

Most people can't.

[Not the part about being a drifter--there were others out there who understood that bit all too well--but everything else he's not going to say and she wouldn't believe anyway.

But he's not one to stay on sad topics for long.]

What about you? You grew up here?

[She mentioned a Duke, so he can assume well enough. But still, there's genuine interest behind the question.]

[damselled]

[Mari simply clears her throat, managing to meet Jack's gaze (haughty though her own is), and just barely holds back a blush. She thinks. Honestly, this war has softened her too much.]

I grew up in Themis. It's rather far from here. [She breathes an almost imperceptible sigh, wondering how her dear father is doing.]

[captainhardness]

[She thinks halfway correctly. It's not a terribly strong blush, but it's there, and it's cute.]

The war brought you here?

[It's a guess. He hasn't been on this planet long enough to get much of a sense of its geography or history. But it's a reasonable assumption, he thinks.]

[damselled]

[Had she known, and had she been aware of what her new acquaintance was thinking, Maribelle would have scolded him. A lady's embarrassment is certainly not "cute".]

Indeed. I am a member of the Shepherds, the royal army of Ylisse.

[captainhardness]

[People blushing is almost always cute, he thinks. She might just scold him about that in general, though.]

You're a soldier. [He smiles, just slightly.] Me too. Or I used to be. It's been a while.