Cake Dance Mingle!

[mrsklover]

WHO: Richie Tozier and You! Mingle Away!
WHERE: Aboard the Cake Dance
WHAT: Mingle for the new crew
WHEN: Right after the ship swap
WARNINGS: So much glitter.

The ship itself is a complete monstrosity. All the pastels and the rosy lights make the whole place look like a kindergarten class. And then the new food dispenser that really just spits out glitter. Lots of interesting and random glitter. It's a nightmare, honestly. An entire nightmare.

And now it's Richie's new home.

He walks around the whole thing with a scowl. His face and hair are covered in glitter and some of the glitter glue is still stuck to his fingers and parts of his clothes. It's terrible. Even the bedroom is colored in all the different nonsense colors. He pokes a finger at a light purple blanket on top of a green bed with red pillows.

"Awesome. It's like fucking Barney..."

The glitter on his hands gets on the blanket and he curses a long stream.

"Arts and crafts herpes. Fucking never get rid of it ever..."

Comments

[holtfinder]

There's a two-for-one deal on new shipmates; not only is there a point-eared little woman checking out the ship, there's also a wolf. The latter of whom is on his hind legs, paws on the counter, licking at the nozzle of the protein dispenser.

The woman, meanwhile, seems most interested in the cargo bay, as the largest empty space on the ship. But it's not exactly an oasis of peace with all the colors, now is it?

[mrsklover]

Richie walks into the kitchen area, sees the wolf, and then slowly starts backing up, eyes wide and terrified. Okay. Was this an Earth Wolf, an Agrii Wolf, or some other Wolf from Planet Weird? Either way, Richie is pretty sure all wolves can tear his face off so he's ready to get out of here while it's distracted with the dispenser.

[holtfinder]

The wolf hears Richie, and looks up from the machine to sniff the air, figuring out if he's interesting. He looks very much like an earth wolf--no extra limbs, normal number of eyes, right size. Grey fur and brown eyes and what big teeth does he have...

As he's backing up, there's the sound of someone coming from behind Richie, a quiet voice. "He doesn't mean you any harm."

[mrsklover]

Richie doesn't look entirely calmed, despite the reassurance. He's been bitten by dogs who's owners swore were the sweetest little darlings. Better to be cautious among animals.

"Uh... Yeah." He glances at the voice and back at the wolf. "No offense but I think I'd probably taste better than that gel. I've eaten it for a month and even I have thought about chewing on someone's arm..."

[holtfinder]

"Right, but I know for a fact that he had a piglet-squirrel for breakfast this morning, and he doesn't need to be making a nuisance of himself in here. Steadypaw, get down."

She sounds about as exasperated as one would expect. The wolf glances toward her and Richie again and one can almost sense him pouting, tail tucking between his legs and ears drooping.

[mrsklover]

The wolf seems a lot less scary pouting like that. Richie couldn't help but smile at it a little. It reminds him of a rather large husky instead of a blood-thirsty wolf. Which...yeah. Makes sense why the girl said he wasn't dangerous, then.

"Steadypaw. Heck of a name. Mine's Richie Tozier, just by the way."

[holtfinder]

"My people tend to use tribe names that fit the one they're describing. I'm Moonshade." Because she is stealthy like the dark side of the moons and has dark hair. "It's in contrast to our soul-names, which only those we Recognize know."

She walks around Richie to ruffle Steadypaw's ears.

"I suppose I should be glad he wasn't licking at the glitter dispenser, at least."

please forgive my lateness

[noch]

Merrin isn't too concerned to find a large furry creature in the kitchen, all in all. There's always a difference between wild animals and the ones that aren't quite wild, like the animals her sisters would take as familiars. Merrin hasn't had one herself before, but they were common enough in her coven.

Besides, there's no way it could've gotten aboard this ship if it didn't belong. It's just a matter of finding the person it belongs with.

"What kind of creature are you?" she asks curiously, her head tipped to the side. She doesn't recognize it as any animal she knows from Dathomir.

<3

[holtfinder]

The wolf stops licking the nozzle, turning to look at Merrin with ears perked and tail high. Meanwhile, from somewhere around the berths she can hear a voice.

"Steadypaw? Where'd you get to?"

Clearly, connecting wolf with rider won't be too hard.

[noch]

Not too hard at all. Merrin spares a quick glance around the berths, looking for the source of the voice, but, not finding anyone in sight, she turns back to address the creature again. The voice will catch up eventually.

"Your name, yes?" Steadypaw. She makes note of it. "Are you making trouble, friend?" she adds, a hint of humor in her voice—after all, he seems to have slipped away from his rider, and she caught him licking the food dispensers.

[holtfinder]

He moves closer to Merrin, letting out a soft whiny sound, as behind him a woman enters the galley. She's tiny, around four feet tall including the pouf of her ponytail, and dressed in dyed-suede clothing, down to little ankle-booties.

"There you are. Is he bothering you?"

[noch]

Merrin's gaze sweeps over the newcomer, curious and alert. The woman's height isn't too unusual to her, since she's used to Greez—but it does make her wonder where she comes from, since most of the people here are human.

"No, he is not." Don't worry, Steadypaw, she won't snitch on you. In fact, she carefully extends a hand towards him for him to sniff. "He is your familiar?" she asks the woman, her head tilted inquisitively. She's not sure if that's the right word for it to her, but that's what the Nightsisters call it.

[holtfinder]

"My mount. My wolf-friend. What is a familiar?" She walks closer, as Steadypaw first sniffs the hand and then bonks it with his head, pretty much demanding to be pet right now please.

Moonshade chuckles, seeing that. "He seems to have decided you're a friend. Hopefully you'll be mine as well? I'm Moonshade, of the Wolfriders."

[beholding_archivist]

At least his belonging have been moved along with him.

Jon has been cautious at stepping onto this new vessel he had been assigned to and winced at the colors - and the glitter.

But he knows there is little he can do about this now and if he's lucky they won't actually have to fly anywhere with these any time soon.

He still has brewed himself a cup of tea and has found himself a seat in the awkwardly colored sitting area to let it all sink in, muttering softly to himself. "...they could have spared us the glitter, at least."

[mrsklover]

Richie walks into the kitchen area, tool in hand to see if he can just break the damn glitter machine to stop it from attacking someone else. He stops mid-step when he sees the man drinking tea on one of the pastel couches. So innocuous, there. Like a prim and proper Englishman.

Richie knew better.

"What the fuck are you doing here? I thought we had an agreement!"

[beholding_archivist]

"I'm having tea." Jon answers flatly, then takes a pointed sip of his brew. "I don't remember having agreed to refrain from having tea."

He would have thought this man to have gotten over his issues with him, or at least to have calmed down a little so they might at least have a reasonable conversation. But apparently that isn't the case.

Unless...

"I can make you a cup as well."

[mrsklover]

Richie snorts. "If you really saw everything you'd know I hate tea. Or maybe you do know and are trying to be funny. Either way, nope. Not a chance."

He glares at the man and doesn't take any steps closer. Like Jon is toxic and Richie isn't sure where the radiation will start. His arms cross over his chest.

"Us being on the same ship doesn't change things; I want you as far away from me as this place allows. Everyone else here might have gotten used to you peeking up their skirt but I'm sure as fuck not."

[beholding_archivist]

Jon huffs, irritated. "And I told you that I am not actively looking into anyone's head. I respect your privacy as much as that of anyone else!"

Of course he can understand the lack of trust. It's not the first time he has had to deal with it after all, but so far here, on this planet? He hasn't been so directly accused of overstepping clear boundaries before.

Jon gets up from where he has been sitting and picks up his now empty cup to start walk over to the kitchen area, which means he has to walk right past Richie. And unlike the other man, Jon has no issue with simply stepping closer, actively maintaining eye contact. "We were all brought here to help the Agrii. And I feel that that's what we should be focusing on!"

[mrsklover]

It isn't easy but Richie somehow manages to look up at Jon, right in the eyes. It makes his skin crawl as the memories come back to him. But still, he manages somehow to stretch a smile over his face. It's cold and mostly teeth--equal parts fear and anger.

"Yeah. Yeah, you're just here to help, right? Funny, though. Did you know that in that weird hero-world, free of my own limitations and able to do what I wanted? All I wanted to do was date a dude. Found Eddie, saw he was cute, and just tried to take him on a date.

"Remind me. What did you do, again?"

ota!

[noch]

This ship is definitely a monstrosity. Merrin takes her time exploring it, nose slightly wrinkled at all of the pastel. Considering her current red and black ensemble, this color scheme is definitely not her vibe. (It really isn't—Nightsisters have the goth witch aesthetic down pat.)

In the galley, she gives that mysterious extra food dispenser some serious consideration, her brow furrowed. After a moment, she experimentally pushes the "semi-solid" button, jerking in surprise when it spits out a stream of glitter onto that whole red and black ensemble—now red and black and glittery. And that would be pink glitter. Shaped like hearts. "What is the purpose of this?" she says with real distaste.

Later on, a trail of pink glitter leads to the cockpit, where she's sitting in the pilot's seat, staring at the controls with a puzzled sort of expression on her face. Thanks to the datapoint, she actually does know what they do, but she also... hasn't actually ever flown anything. Ever. So it's a strange sort of limbo. Maybe it's a good thing nothing's actually working at the moment...

[mrsklover]

Richie is covered in glitter himself. His happens to be rainbow stars which... Yeah. He knows he's coming out but this is a little on the nose, Agrii. He tries to dust himself off and notices the pink hearts next to his stars on the floor. Curious, he follows the trail to see Goth Brooks hanging out in the cockpit. No pastels here, thank God.

"Hey," he greets. "I see you got the welcome gift too, huh? Those aliens have a fucked sense of humor." And he should know.

[noch]

Very pointed glitter choices going on here. The little pink hearts have been practically impossible to get off, no matter how hard she tries, and they stand out very glaringly on her black clothes, even glinting a little in the light when she turns around in her seat to face her new... well, she's assuming shipmate. Her gaze sweeps over him in a very unsubtle way, assessing.

"You would call this a welcome gift?" she says dryly, raising her eyebrows. Her accent is remarkably similar to Russian, which makes her sound particularly unamused.

[mrsklover]

Tough audience. He's had worse. Early in his career he'd made the mistake of doing a joke set in New York extolling the virtues of Chicago-style pizza. He might still be banned from that bar.

"From a sadist, maybe. Or those pink aliens that don't seem to understand how hard this shit is to get off human skin."

He walks a little closer and offers a smile.

"Richie Tozier. Hey. I think we're crew mates now. Glittery, pastel-surrounded crew mates."

[noch]

Look, it was never going to happen. Her sense of humor is very literal and she hasn't laughed in six years. Please feel free to keep trying, though.

"Yes, it would appear that way. I am Merrin." She casts him another one of those assessing looks, always a little bemused by friendly people. Life on Dathomir—her home planet—ranges from unwelcoming to downright hostile, so she's still not quite used to the people here being so nice to her.

"However, I am not human," she informs him matter-of-factly. One might be forgiven for thinking she is, since other than her white hair and unnaturally pale skin, she looks exactly like one. But she feels like she has to clarify this point. "So it is only skin," she adds, deadpan.

[mrsklover]

Richie looks at her and squints his eyes a little. "Not human?" He's learned from being around here that 'not human' was a vast net. She could be an alien or a robot or a ghost or fuck knows what else. As long as there was no red nose popping up, he was okay though.

"Is it...rude to ask what you are? Cause you look human to me, but I come from a place where we really only have human as an option for what people can be. Super boring."