Arrival on the Bishop (Radley, OTA)

[crystalmaster]

WHO: Radley and the crew of the Bishop (and anyone else who might travel to the Bishop?)
WHERE: On the Bishop
WHAT: A panicked arrival
WHEN: August 10-11
WARNINGS: One very panicked, confused guy arriving just as the event is ending.

Radley was calm, cool, and collected under ordinary circumstances.

Waking up in a strange bed, on a spaceship, with a bizarre message of explanation was not ordinary circumstances.

The message did not placate him at all. He had been kidnapped from home to help fix a dying planet?! That was what he was getting out of it. This was not okay.

He opened the door, running into the hall. "Hello?! What's going on?! Is anyone here?!"

It all seemed so deserted. Was he here all alone?!

He started running from room to room, looking for people. Was this some kind of a joke? Maybe it was Candid Camera. The whole country might be watching him act crazy. He drew a shuddering breath and tried to calm down.

... How could he calm down under these circumstances?!

He wanted to go home....

Comments

[crystalmaster]

Under normal circumstances, Radley would make a crack about his ears bleeding. But this is not normal and he's not satisfied in the least with the answers he's getting.

"Tell me how to go home and I'll get off your ship!" he snaps. "It's not like I want to be here! I was kidnapped to join you in fixing a planet!"

[quark_assassin]

Dustin could never claim to have a good bedside manner, and the way he handles Radley's quick spiral deeper into panic should be a prime example of why.

"Forty total, including us," he says automatically, folding his arms and glancing towards the ceiling while he thinks through the exact numbers. "There have been plenty of others, though. Haven't done a full count through the Network yet, and that wouldn't get everyone, just the people that have used their tablets, anyway. All indications point towards this being a separate universe from the ones we're pulled from, so realistically speaking the Agrii could bring us back to exactly where and when they found us, although the chances of them actually doing that is--"

The soft thump of Radley backing into the wall snaps Dustin's attention back to him. His eyes widen, befuddled. He's...having a panic attack? Dustin knows how to recognize the symptoms of one and handle it for himself, but someone else? Totally lost. Dustin's jaw works for a couple of seconds, brain spinning, when suddenly the absolute last person he wanted to see shows up at the other end of the hall.

"...Oh, fuck's sake," the boy groans, kneading the bridge of his nose. This just became a lot more complicated and irritating. He whirls on York, shoulders bristling. "--I was invited, jackass!" Dustin makes a dismissive gesture towards Radley. "This idiot was brought here by the Agrii, he clearly doesn't know what the fuck is going on. Leave him out of whatever bullshit grandstanding you're about to do, would you?"

[crystalmaster]

"There's been others? So ... some people have been sent back already?" This gives him a sliver of hope, as does the thought of going back to when he left. Maybe ... maybe he can handle this ... somehow.... If this is his life now, if he has to fix the planet to go home, he will throw himself full-force into it.

Maybe he can pretend it's a nightmare.

The insults snap him further back to himself.

"Oh, I'm an idiot, am I? And I suppose when you first arrived, you immediately grasped everything that was happening and accepted it right away. Bravo! My hat's off to you!"

He makes a gesture of tipping an imaginary hat.

[buildingitsir]

York looks between the two, the scowl still set on his face. After his last encounter with Dustin and how well that went, this could only go south faster than a boulder falling off of a cliff. Seems like the shorter guy didn't get along with anyone given how Radley yells at Dustin.

York almost smirks at that thought.

Instead he'd rather work on figuring out how to get a least one of them off of the ship - invitation or no.

"Look, BOTH of you shut the fuck up!" he shouts, holding up his hands. He points at Dustin. "I'm not fucking grandstanding, I just know that you should only be able to get onto ships that you're assigned to instead of being able to waltz in on which ever you fucking please. I didn't know one of my dumbass crewmates gave you an invite, Cinderella."

He pulls out his communicator and scrolls through and points at Radley without looking at him from the screen. "You must be the newest addition that's listed on my ship. Fanfuckingtastic, more idiot humans. Here's hoping you don't take network posts as an open invitation to break into someone's home."

A side glare shot over to Dustin.

[crystalmaster]

"I can assure you I won't," Radley says haughtily. "If you're planning on making my ears bleed every time we meet, I will try to ensure that won't happen often!" He isn't yelling now, but speaking very smoothly and sarcastically.

He wonders what the rest of the crew is like and if there's any possibility of transfer. If they're all as pleasant as these guys, that's going to make this experience even less palatable for him.

[quark_assassin]

Dustin opens his mouth to directly contradict York's request for him to shut the fuck up, but ends up stopping himself short - not because he doesn't object to anything York or Radley have said, but because he realizes suddenly that he has no idea who 'Cinderella' is and that's throwing him for a bit of a loop. Must be one of those multiverse reference things. He regains his footing quickly, though, shooting a deadpan stare at Radley--

"You are and I did."

--Then, having acknowledged everything he found important about Radley's diatribe towards him, he returns his attention sharply to York, matching his glare with equal amounts of venom.

"You're really gonna hold that shit over my head? Right now?" he snaps, leaning out from behind Radley so he can posture better at the little android down the hall. "I did not want to do this today, I just wanted to drop my shit off and go, but apparently it's part of your programming to be as much of an irritating shithead as possible so, fuck it! Go ahead and get it out of your fucking system!"

[crystalmaster]

"... Well, since you two boys feel like arguing on your little playground, I'm going to leave you to it and go back to what is apparently my room," Radley says, still dripping sarcasm. "I have no desire to play teacher and break up your naughty-naughty quarrel at recess."

He starts off down the hall in the direction he came and wonders if he can send out a signal for help. Surely there must be friendlier ships and people here somewhere ... right?

[buildingitsir]

Did Dustin realize that he could still just drop the stuff off and leave? York wasn't going to stop him or hold him back somehow. But his expression changed, falling from the anger enough to probably be noticeable. It was Dustin saying the words, but that wasn't who York was hearing in his files. He thought of Calibrations and what others had seen, knew of him and looked away, no retort given to Dustin as requested.

Instead he hardens his expression once more, moving past Dustin down the hall. Despite being shorter of stature, York walked with a quick purpose down the hall. He had a ship to try and pilot again after all. He only gives a look upwards at the newest shipmate of The Bishop as he moves past.

"It's gonna be a rough ride so try to make yourself comfortable at least." It's probably the nicest thing that York's said since getting on the ship after the two humans, but there's still a tone of bite under the words. "I'm York. You can find my name on the communication device."

[crystalmaster]

Radley pauses, surprised by any civility from this guy.

"... Hello, York. So how do I make myself comfortable for a rough ride? Do I need to strap in with a seatbelt, like on an airplane?"

He's serious now, not knowing anything about spaceship travel.

[deal_me_in]

"Bawk."

In the brief silence that falls, there's the unmistakable sound of a cluck. Which makes no sense unless you're in the know that there happens to be a chicken aboard.

The brown hen stands a ways down the hall, likely disturbed from where she'd been comfortable in one of the storage cubbies of the crew quarters. Surely it's imagination, but the chicken certainly looks like she's judging all of you.

[crystalmaster]

"What the ... ?!"

Radley stares.

"There's an animal on board?!"

Somehow it's comforting to see a familiar type of animal. But why is it here? Is it a pet? Is it here to give eggs?

[quark_assassin]

Dustin's body language suggests that he's getting ready for a prolonged fight here, and the fact that he doesn't get one leaves him a little...deflated. Not disappointed - he hardly enjoys situations like these - but it does take a few seconds for the adrenaline spike to level out and for his breathing to settle. York isn't antagonized any further as he brushes past, either; simply watched with a wary eye, as Dustin makes sure that he is well and truly on his way out instead of trying to pull something once the android gets behind him.

Not sure what button I pushed, but it got him to leave me alone. I'll take it.

He sits in silence for a few moments longer just to recover and observe. Maybe find an opening for a subtle exit? Interestingly, it's the hen standing near the entrance to the crew quarters that provides the best cover for this.

"Colonel," Dustin answers - either Radley's question or as a greeting to the hen's perturbed cluck or both. "She's Cayde's. Probably stays with his stuff, and I need to drop off this project, so I should..."

Letting that statement finish itself, Dustin sweeps an anxious hand through his hair and, head ducked, tries to shuffle awkwardly past Radley to the judgmental chicken.

[crystalmaster]

"Oh...." Radley looks from him to the chicken. "She's a pet then?"

[deal_me_in]

Colonel pecks at the ground some, clucking as she lifts her head when Dustin begins to move towards her. She's by no means skittish, resuming her pecking with a brief flutter of her wings.

Then she turns and starts strutting along down the hall, now that she's seen what the excitement's all about.

[crystalmaster]

Radley is amused, and half-tempted to follow her. If he's to be on this ship, he should learn where everything is, after all. And there must be other crew members to find ... surely....

He takes a few slow steps after her, not wanting her to feel threatened.