( 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

[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.

[damselled]

[Maribelle is well aware that she doesn't look like most people's idea of a soldier; prim and pretty and proper rarely cross the minds of those who think of it.]

Yes. There is no war here officially - not yet - and yet I fear it has already begun. We have been recruiting others to our cause, but only the best and brightest are able to survive amongst us.

[She doesn't remark upon Jack's own mention of being one, not wishing to drag him into their battle, but she eyes him critically, sizing him up]

[captainhardness]

[He notices that look, replying with a bit of a smirk.]

I like a challenge.

[There's a brief glance toward his wrist. If only that thing wasn't so inclined to burn itself out, he wouldn't be stuck here, and he definitely wouldn't be getting himself involved in someone else's war. But he wasn't going to be fixing it any time soon from the look of it. He'd already tried.]

And I could use a job, if you could use another recruit.

[damselled]

Oh?

[She turned towards him, looking him up and down. He seems well-built enough, but that doesn't necessarily mean he can survive.]

And what skills do you have that would allow you to survive?