Heading to exitvoid

[effgravity]

Wait...what?

Let me get this straight, you're sending me to some rinky junker floatin' around in some oversized puddle and expect me to live there?  [She thinks for a second before shrugging.]

Eh, could be worse I guess.

...Wait?  What do you mean there's monsters?!  Ooooh no, no no no noooooo.  We don't do monsters.  We don't fight remember?  We build stuff.  I'm too young and pretty to be eaten by some monster.

Oh, you'll try to make sure I don't get eaten?  Okay.  Good. 

I guess it won't be so bad.  It won't be home but it'll be different.  And I have always wanted to see the sun!

Comments

[vaudevil]

[Sorry, but Lee's laughing now. After coming face to face with a guy that said that he wanted to bathe in his blood, hardly anything fazes him now. He calms down and keeps his smile.]

The ghosts are mostly benign. It's the others on board that you must concern yourself with.

In retrospect, what is it that you build?

[effgravity]

[Have the most indignant look she can muster. Why is he laughing at her? Rude!

Of course that passes quickly when he asks about what she can build. Her expression actually becomes smug.]

Why anything and everything, of course!

[vaudevil]

[His own expression turns into a smirk and a cocky pose accompanies to match his face.]

Well now. You're either overconfident or you're just eager. I like that. I warn you, that ship will test you in all aspects of your ability including the psychological. If you're not used to cramped spaces, be prepared to have your mind shredded.

[effgravity]

It might take a bit more work on such a junker to find what I can use but I'm sure I can make something useful. How useful will depend. After all it appears the tech is light-years behind.

[She gives a little shrug, all four arms going up at once.] My people live underground. Granted it's a really huge network of caverns but there's still the lack of sky overhead. I think I can deal.

[vaudevil]

[He caught sight of those arms and shrugs all the same but he's curious now.]

Interesting.

[And he's not talking about her engineering work. She's a lovely specimen.]

[effgravity]

[What the glowing hair, tats and eyes wasn't interesting enough to begin with? Or, you know, the fact she's clearly not human.]

Indeed. Why is it you ask? [Yeah she doesn't get it yet.]

[vaudevil]

[His head tilts slightly as he studies her face.]

Curiosity, mostly. Are those bio-luminescent marks?

[If he hadn't spoken to Dr. Whale *cough*Frankenstein*cough*, he probably would have let that go but that wouldn't last too long.]

[effgravity]

[Vasa blinks at him, her hair (spoiler: they're actually tendrils) curls a bit more than it already was.]

Uh, yes. Why? [It's like this guy can't stay on a subject for long. Perhaps he has some kind of focusing disorder? Oh. what does she care? She's not a doctor.]

[wont]

You have never seen the sun? [ Alayne chastises herself for sounding so surprised (it was rude, no doubt, to question the ways in which they were not alike). ] Never once?

[effgravity]

No lack of trying but I always got caught before I could find the pathway to the surface. [She doesn't seem the least bit offended. After all, she knows some people are lucky enough to live on a world where the surface isn't too harsh to live on.]

[wont]

[ That she doesn't seem to take offense puts Alayne at some ease. Not everyone is half as forgiving, however, so her questions advance carefully, like tiptoe. ]

So you make a home beneath the earth. [ A thoughtful pause. ] Like animals, burrowed.

[effgravity]

Something like that. We actually live in a giant...erm well, I guess you could call it a hive. Many tunnels and caverns all connected together.

We moved below ground ages ago because the surface is too harsh on most life. [She flashes a smile, not really even thinking about how the little fleshy creature would respond to seeing her sharp teeth.]

[wont]

[ In truth, her smile frightens Alayne, whose mind associates such pointed teeth with lions and monsters — vicious things belonging to the wild and the dark. This woman, however — was she a woman — does not seem to be any of those things.

Still, her posture tenses slightly, only to be smoothed out a moment later. ]

A hive, you say. Likened to bees? Have you a queen? [ Is she treacherous? ]

[effgravity]

[She notices that her smile does have that affect so she makes note not to do it again if she can help it.]

Bees? I...suppose. Yes. [She nods.] Yes, we have a queen.

[wont]

Never have I had the opportunity to make the acquaintance of your kind before. And I have met many a stranger in my travels. [ Plucking at her skirts, Alayne dips in a bow. ] My name is Alayne. It seems as though we are both meant for the ship.

[effgravity]

And never have I met any squishy pink folk like you. Erm, no offense meant by that. [The bow gets a raised brow in turn.]

M'chen Vasazinaco sol Therii, you can call me Vasa. What is meant by that bow?

[wont]

[ Though she tries to maintain her courtliness, Alayne cannot help but wrinkle her nose at being called pink and squishy. It made her sound like a baby or a very fat worm — neither of which were complimentary, though Vasa did not seem to be rude. ]

My curtsey? [ Alayne gestures again, slower this time and more deliberate, deepening the bow further than it had been before in demonstration. ] It is a sign of respect, paid to one's betters out of courtesy and obeisance. A man bows to a lord, a lord bows to a king. Such is the way of the courts.

[effgravity]

[Vasa cants her head to the right as she watches Alayne demonstrate the curtsey. Her tiny wings give soft buzz as she nods.] Ah, I see.

It's different from what we do. Perhaps it'll be easier to simply demonstrate. [All four arms move so that her palms face upward. Her eyes are downcast she bows her head. Her primary hands are then pressed together at the pals as are her secondary hands before she raises her head.]

That is, however, typically only used for the Queen.

[wont]

[ Alayne watches attentively as Vasa genuflects, her lips pursed in consideration. It would not be possible for her to mimic the gesture, even if she wanted to (which she does). Instead, she nods with acknowledgment. ]

Humility and exultation. Both worthy of a queen. [ A pause, and then she thinks to ask: ] And how best may I greet you?

[effgravity]

[She could, it's a gesture done by even two armed races that come to visit the Queen.

She nods, smiling while keeping her lips together.]

For everyone else we simply do this. [She holds all four hands palms up spreads them out the sides.]

It is a gesture of welcome.